Educational
by abadeerly
Summary: 'They glanced up as Marceline walked past them, eyeing her leather jacket and combat boots respectively as if they were going to jump off her body and bite their heads off. She wished.' [Bubbline Highschool AU] Rated M for language, smut, violence and other nsfw themes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: who remembers those cheesy, cliché bubbline fanfictions that were published around 2013? I do, because they were what inspired me to start writing for these two nerds (and start writing in general) and made me love them as much as I do. AO3 is good and all, but there's something about this site that my 2013-2015 self can't quite forget. it's an old nostalgic feeling, and I have so many memories of crying over fics once I had finished them. In short, what i'm wanting to hopefully recreate in this fanfiction is that feeling. that feeling of 'where did all that plot and those chapters go in such a short space of time?'. I really want to capture my odd nostalgic feeling I get when I look back at fanfictions like 'College Town Love', 'Never Be What You Want', 'At The U', 'The Perks Of Being Marceline', 'My Life May Or May Not Be Fcked Up By You' and 'Never Be What You Want' to name but a few great fanfics that I read back in the years. (I highly suggest you go read these. And maybe others from my favourite stories list. The completed multichapter fics are all top notch and have made me cry).**

 **So, I present to you a 23 chapter fanfiction inspired by all those fanfictions and more. I _really_ hope you guys enjoy this. And maybe there will be a years hiatus (because all the best fanfictions had them, back then) and maybe this will end up being re-written by me or someone else. But I just want to create something that 2013 me would have looked at and thought 'wow, I want to do this'. **

**I present to you, Educational.**

 **(Content Warnings: _lots of swearing_.)**

* * *

Marceline sighed. __Highschool number four… or maybe five?__ She thought to herself, boots scuffing against the concrete beneath her as she hoisted her bag back up onto her shoulder. The building in front of her was large, yet hardly intimidating, and a few stray students were loitering about the entrance waiting for the day to start.

A few of them glanced up as Marceline walked past them, eyeing her leather jacket and combat boots respectively as if they were going to jump off her body and bite their heads off. She wished. __I__ _'_ _ _m only going to be here for a year tops, maybe less if daddy does his job particularly right.__ She remembered when they had moved after only staying in a certain place for no less than six months because her fathers business had grew quite fast, resulting in her leaving half way through a year and having to be set back a whole year.

As Marceline stepped through the large double doors and into the school she noticed the receptionist sat behind her desk, glasses slid to the end of her nose as she stared blankly at the computer screen in front of her.

Marceline cleared her throat. "Yo, I'm the uh… new student?" No matter how many schools Marceline had been to, she had never really figured out how to introduce herself to these people. __She's probably playing solitaire, anyways__.

The woman glanced up at her, tucking short strands of brown hair behind her ear as she inspected the teen, before clicking away at the computer.

"Marceline Aberdeen?"

" _ _Abadeer,__ " Marceline corrected.

"Right, here's your student ID and your timetable." The woman thrusted the items out towards Marceline, who reluctantly took them with a huff and a roll of her eyes. "You've been assigned a compulsory buddy to show you around, his name's Finn Mertons. You'll be introduced to him during your first period."

Marceline was about to bite back a comment about her not needing a buddy to show her around, because honestly who the __fuck__ wants to be known as the student with a forced friend, but remembered what her father had told her in the car about trying to be nice to the students here.

She turned on her heel and pushed through another set of double doors without another word, finding herself in a hallway with a few students gaggling around their lockers and talking to one another.

Marceline scrunched the timetable into the back pocket of her skinny jeans, taking a wary glance at her student ID before throwing it in a nearby bin. __Fucking nerd school wants me to carry around ID? That's dumb as shit.__

She found herself in a spot of trouble the moment the bell sounded not five minutes later; she had no clue where her first class was and she'd be damned if she had to actually ask anyone for directions. So, she did what any normal person would do and went in the opposite direction everyone else was going. Now that the hallways were crowded with her fellow students, she noticed that she towered over a lot of the younger looking ones, which had always been the case for her with any school she had gone to. Being older, taller and lankier than most kids her age made her stick out like a sore thumb, but she knew how to blend in with the crowds.

She found herself near one of the fire escapes on what seemed to be the Maths block of the building. Marceline dared to peek in to a class through one of the windows in the doors, managing to distract at least two kids before darting away.

 _ _That damn receptionist never told me where the fuck my first lesson was__. Marceline thought to herself, peering down at her boots with a bored frown.

"You must be our new student," Marceline glanced up straight away, finding herself face to face with a man just a little taller than her. He had quite a square face, topped with that haircut that most middle aged men had, and a tan suit that had certainly seen better days. "I'm the principle," __Oh, shit.__

"Uh, I was just lookin' for my lesson." Which, okay, wasn't necessarily a __lie__ as Marceline was definitely going to attend her lesson if by some magical coincidence she figured out where it was. The man before her didn't seem too fazed by the obvious lie.

"Follow me to my office, Abadeer." __Expelled already? What sort of fuck shitery is this?__ "Have you met your buddy yet?" She shook her head no. "He's already in there." __Oh.__

Turns out the principles office was around the corner and a little down the hall from the maths rooms, and Marceline followed him in with a slow stride. She'd been in countless principle's offices, getting expelled or receiving weekend detentions because some bigot had decided to throw a punch at her. This came to her like breathing.

Already sat down in front of the large oak desk in the middle of the room was a boy, whom Marceline presumed was Finn Mertons, who looked as if this was his first time in the principles office and he was about to wet himself.

Marceline resisted the urge to snort as she collapsed into the other chair in front of the desk, throwing her bag down beside her. She took a moment to scan the room around her, spotting the name plate that said __Principle A. Johnson__ on the desk, a statue of a deer on the windowsill behind it and a series of filing cabinets which lined the walls of the room.

"Nice digs, Johnson," She muttered under her breath, turning her head to look back at the man in front of her.

"Marceline, this is your buddy for a week, Finn." Marceline ignored the boy beside her and continued staring back at the principle. "If you have any questions regarding the school, our values, our students or our staff then I urge you to go to Finn first." __Must be a damn lazy school if they're getting a student to do what a member of staff should be doing.__ "And since you're a year behind __and__ you've started late, I've signed you up for a mandatory study period after school on a Thursday."

At that, Marceline groaned. "Are you being serious? There's no way I'm giving up my Thursday afternoons to study."

"Your father and I have already discussed this, Marceline. Hudson seems to think it's an excellent idea to help you further your education."

"Yeah, well, he would."

"Alright, now get to lessons both of you. I have some paperwork to get through for tomorrows assembly."

 _ _Assemblies are on Tuesdays, gotta make sure I miss them.__

Marceline shouldered her bag and left the room with a sigh, downright glaring at the blonde boy who shuffled out after her.

"Alright, where's my first lesson, loser?"

The boy's face flushed red as he stammered out a reply. "U-Uhm, I'll need to see your, uh, timetable."

Marceline dove her hand in her back pocket once more and pulled out the now creased sheet of paper, handing it to Finn and watching as he unfolded it.

"You're in History seven, which is up those stairs and to the left."

Without waiting for the boy to say or do anything else, Marceline snatched her timetable back and followed his directions.

History was about as entertaining as History could ever be for Marceline, and since it was a repeat of what she had done at the previous school, she found herself finished with the lesson's tasks about forty five minutes in.

The lesson after that was supposed to be science but Marceline had decided to skip that lesson and walk around the school for the hour, quickly finding both her Music and her English classrooms.

The bell for break went and Marceline spotted Finn walking out of one of the science rooms, stuffing a book in his bag and running a hand through his hair. Marceline strode over to him and threw an arm over his shoulders, feeling him freeze against her side as he made a noise of protest.

"Relax, Mertons, I just need you for a sec." The boy threw a very worried glance over his shoulder before Marceline guided them both around a corner.

"Listen Marceline, I get that you don't want a buddy and that's completely fine. I won't bug you or harass you or anything and you can go and do whatever you want but-"

"Shut up loser," Marceline interrupted him, stopping mid stride to throw him out in front of her at arms length, fingers clutching the strap of his bag. "I wanna know about this damn study bullshit on Thursday, what're the downsides of me skipping that? What're the consequences around here?"

Suddenly __very__ relieved that Marceline wasn't going to beat him up and demand for his lunch money, Finn relaxed and let out a breath. "It goes down on your attendance, I think. If you miss more than four lessons and CBT's combined then you get a detention. You miss two detentions then your parents are emailed and you get two hours after school doing whatever you're told to, miss that and you get a weekend detention, miss that and you're suspended and so on."

"Fuck, this place is harsh." Marceline muttered. "Wait, shit, I've already skipped a lesson- god __damn__ -"

" _ _Already__?" Finn asked incredulously, jaw slacking just the tiniest amount. "If it helps or anything I know the tutor for the after school study."

" _ _Ugh__ fuck I bet they fucking __thrive__ on education."

"She's a little nerdy, sure, but she's also really sweet and she turned down the payment offer for the four hours a week she does it and-"

"Yeah, I get it, your girlfriends a fucking nerd." Marceline cut him off again.

Finn's face flushed a dark red at her comment, and he began stuttering his denial before Marceline scoffed and let go of his bag. "Uh, can I go now?"

"Yeah sure, fuck off. And… thanks for showing me where my first lesson was."

Finn gave her a toothy grin in response and dashed off back around the corner, leaving Marceline to think through her decisions. She could either go to these stupid study lessons to entertain her father and the principal, or risk spiralling into missed detentions and suspensions every month because she couldn't be fucked to go to lessons.

 _ _Maybe I could go for the first two sessions. I'm sure daddy will be able to have a few words with the principle about stopping them after a few weeks.__

And with that, Marceline came to her final decision.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this took so long but just as a treat it** **'s extra long (over 6k!) and full of fluff.**

 **Warnings: swearing, mention of drugs and alcohol, under age drinking, an overuse of italics, awkward car journey with lap sitting, some cliché party games.**

* * *

During her first week, she had found out, Marceline was entitled to 'unlimited' absences for most of her lessons, excluding things like physical education and assemblies ( _blech_ ). So she took advantage of that. Of course she did; they were _literally_ giving her the opportunity to miss out nearly every single one of her lessons. She got a few odd looks from her fellow peers when she showed up to her music lessons and nothing else, however, and her teachers weren't exactly happy with how she was 'abusing' the rules already.

So Thursday came and went, Marceline getting to sit back and relax in her own bedroom instead of staying behind at school with some socially depraved loser wanting to help her with her grades. Honestly, what the fuck was her father thinking when he signed Marceline up for those things?

On the Monday morning of the following week, Marceline begrudgingly woke up to the sound of her alarm playing from her phone. She desperately wanted to throw it out the window, sleep until midday and go into school late; her father _was_ at work today, so there was no one in the house to say that she couldn't. But as Marceline grabbed her phone, pulling the covers over her shoulders to prevent the cold air getting in, she was met with a text from Finn. _Fuck, why the fuck did I give him my damn number? Fuck._

 _ **Finn (6:47):** Yo, Marcy, there's a party after school today and I thought you'd appreciate an invite. My brother Jermaine is driving me and my friends, wanna come along?_

 _ **Marceline (7:02):** One week in to this friendship and you know me too well, kid. As long as your brothers not a bozo I'm down to partay._

As Marceline sent the text she unwillingly got out of bed, albeit with a little more motivation in her step than when she first opened her eyes, and threw on a hoodie and some jeans. She took a passing glance at the mane on her head she liked to call her hair through the mirror, not bothering to even run a hand through the tangled mess as she left her room. She trudged down the stairs, slipped into her favourite pair of converse, and left the house.

* * *

"Marceline!" Finn's voice came from somewhere across the parking lot, making Marceline glance up from her phone to find the blonde boy heading towards her, hand up in a wave and a toothy grin on his face. "I got your text, promise he's not a bozo."

 _That_ kind of made Marceline smirk. Just because it was Finn and the word bozo was not meant to come out of this young kids mouth. "Nice to know," She muttered in a reply, tucking her phone into the pocket of her hoodie so she could send a pointed glare over Finn's shoulder. "Who're your bozo friends?"

She wished that Finn could learn to take a joke, because as soon as she pointed out the fact that Finn had brought over _several_ students to her he frowned and suddenly got a little too defensive.

"I'm gonna pretend like you didn't just say that," He grumbled. Marceline wanted to laugh. _Sounds like a fucking teacher or some shit, damn._ "And I figured you could use some friends, I'm not gonna be around for you all the time."

Suddenly, it was Marceline's turn to defend her pride. "I don't _do_ friends, I do acquaintances. Sometimes enemies. And who said I even need you around _now_?"

That seemed to get to one of the kids behind Finn, the one that looked like he could snap Marceline in half, specifically. Marceline glowered a little harder at him in particular. "What? I didn't ask you to come over here."

The boy shrugged. "I just don't think you should be treating him like that, considering all he's done is help you out with skipping lessons and finding your way around so you don't look like a fuckin' lost puppy-"

"Jake." Marceline's eyes glanced to a red headed girl, whose hand had jumped up to rest on _Jake's_ shoulder. "Listen, we just came over here to ask if you were interested in joining an extra curriculum. We're the only club that isn't co-ran by a teacher so we only have 'official meetings' every few weeks at lunch. It's pretty chill."

"Yeah," Jake huffed. "Finn didn't ask us to come over here."

Marceline gnawed at her bottom lip, thinking over her options. _If I chose to join their loser club I'd be in a loser club. Better than joining a club that I have to actually attend._

"What's the catch?"

Red haired girl shrugged. "You don't glare at us in the hallways and you go to Bonnie's study group?" She threw a thumb over her shoulder. "Just that, promise."

 _Bonnie? Who the fuck is Bonnie?_

Marceline followed the direction of the girls thumb, eyes coming to meet a shorter girl with a freckled face, light pink strands of hair spilling out from beneath a baseball cap. Marceline frowned at her, watching as she smiled gently in return.

"Uh, yeah, sure." _What the fuck, what the actual fuck did I just agree to? Marceline Abadeer you're a fucking idiot. What sort of tom-fuckery is this?_ "But I won't be able to do it on the Thursday evenings, Bon," _Great. A fucking nickname, what the fuck?_ "Got a job and stuff so can we like, reschedule?"

"Of course," Bonnie sang with a smile. "I'll get Finn to give you my number so you can tell me what time's you're free."

The fact that this girl was actually being nice to her and not glaring back was astonishing. _What the fuck?_

As the group left the car park, Finn turned to smirk at her. "And you said she was _my_ girlfriend?"

Marceline elbowed him in the gut and turned left to her Music class. _I'm not gay, jackass._

She was surprised to find the class wasn't even half full, the room containing barely any students and a single teacher stood at the front of the room staring pointedly at her.

"Ah, you must be our new student. Welcome, welcome, choose a seat wherever you like. We don't have a plan in here."

Marceline smiled back at her, thankful of the lack of seating restrictions, and moved all the way to the back of the class to sit near the window.

Throughout most of the two hour period she had, the teacher seemed to be hilariously astonished over how much Marceline already _knew_ about music theory. It was as if this school had never had talent before.

Stepping out of the room for break Marceline was met with the same red head from that morning, with another girl stood positively beaming from her side. Marceline rolled her eyes upon seeing them both.

"Hey, I don't think I properly introduced myself and the weird group of friends I have, but I'm Phoebe and this is Lady."

Marceline took one good look at this _Lady_ , eyes drawn to the mix of colourful bracelets on her arms. "Uh," Marceline _wanted_ to ask what the fuck they were doing waiting outside her lesson, but decided that she should probably remain civil if she wanted to keep Jake on her good side. "Listen, I'm not one for sitting round a campfire singing kumbaya, but-,"

"We were hoping you'd hang out with us, at least just for today. Bonnibel said she needed to go through some things with you for the study sessions, too." Lady spoke, smile never once faltering.

Marceline sucked in a huge breath, nodding reluctantly, and followed Phoebe to one of the art rooms. As soon as they walked in Marceline could see they had all been friends for a while; Finn and Bonnibel were laughing over something or other. Bonnibel's blue eyes turned to her from underneath the baseball cap still on her head, and Marceline realised that for once in her life she didn't mind being stared at (or the sound of Bonnibel's laughter, but she'd never admit that to anyone at all. Ever.) by someone that she didn't necessarily like.

"Hey, Marceline." She started through bouts of laughter. "You want to sit down or are you too cool for us all of a sudden?"

 _All of a sudden? Who does this girl think she is? I've was born cool, came out the womb wearing sunglasses and doing devil horns I'll have you know._

Instead of biting back a particularly nasty remark that she had on the tip of her tongue, Marceline shrugged and leaned against the door frame, chewing her bottom lip until it felt raw.

She hadn't noticed that Bonnibel had stood until the pink haired girl was in front of her, staring at Marceline as if she were some sort of curious toy. Marceline sighed.

"Fine. I'll sit with you, just don't expect me to start singing kumbaya."

Bonnibel laughed a little more, and something in Marceline's brain made her want to feel proud for making _Bonnibel_ happy. She didn't, of course. Instead, she just felt a little irked about the fact her brain wanted to hear a random fucking stranger laugh again.

 _To be fair, Marceline,_ she reasoned to herself, _it's probably because you don't_ do _social interaction that much. Your brain probably just wants at least a little bit of conversation with anyone right now._

Yeah, she'd go with that.

She perched herself on a chair between Bonnibel and Phoebe, all too tempted to be the antisocial heathen they thought she was and pull her headphones out. She didn't, though, and instead glanced over at Finn.

"What's with the tiny music class?" She asked him, seemingly pulling _everyone_ out of their conversations to stare at her again. "Take a picture guys, it'll last longer."

"Uh, I guess no one really took music this year huh?" Finn replied, bringing a hand up to brush hair out of his seemingly blushing face. "I think it's because a few who left last year didn't pass what they thought was an easy subject. At least that's what I heard."

"Music _is_ easy." Marceline said with a scoff. "I'm surprised not a lot of people passed it, to be honest."

"You play an instrument then?" Phoebe asked gently.

"I play…a _few_." Marceline mumbled, scratching the back of her neck out of habit. "Like…the last time I counted I think I played nine? I'm learning how to play the harp right now though, so maybe ten."

"That's- That's _really_ cool, Marceline." Finn spluttered, seemingly at a loss for words. "Which do you prefer to play?"

"Oh, guitar and bass _definitely_. I like playing the piano a lot. My axe bass is my baby, though, so I gotta say either bass or guitar."

" _Axe_ bass?" It was Lady's turn to be surprised this time. Although, looking around the room told Marceline that _everyone_ found it at least a little shocking how many instruments she played.

"Hell yeah," Marceline replied with a grin. "Back in my old town there was this sick music store that did custom instruments, so of course I wanted a rad as fuck bass. Eddy, the guy who worked there, was telling me about how he found this axe in his attic, so I begged for him to make me it into a bass." She explained. "It's a little heavy, but I fucking love how cool it looks."

Bonnibel smiled from beside her and spoke before anyone else could, listing off Marceline's instruments on her hand. "So you play guitar and bass, and you mentioned the piano earlier. That's only three." Just for good measure, the other girl waved her three fingers in front of Marceline's face.

Marceline rolled her eyes. "I can play keyboard, banjo, sitar, ukulele, cello and violin." And just because she could, Marceline threw in a little extra. "I can sing, too."

"The fuck is a sitar?" Jake blurted out.

"String instrument." Marceline replied vaguely.

Seemingly satisfied with their answers, the group went back to talking and Marceline relaxed back in her chair.

* * *

"Sit with me?"

Marceline blinked, stepping to the side to let Bonnibel slip past into the history room. She trailed after the other girl to a table in the middle of the room. _Not my usual choice, but this class looks crowded already._ She was desperately trying to overlook the fact that Bonnibel had the audacity to lean in extra close just to whisper in her ear. Like, what the _fuck?_ Was she trying to seduce her or some shit?

"Listen, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're one of those people who gets straight A's and perfect attendance, yeah?"

Bonnibel gave her a small smile as she took out her textbook and pencil case, flipping to the page Marceline assumed the teacher had told them to. "Never failed a subject, never missed a lesson." She sang quietly, scribbling down one of the questions.

Marceline watched intently as Bonnibel finished it in under thirty seconds, placing her pen beside her book and smiling proudly back at her. Marceline rolled her eyes and let out a _psh,_ smirking all the same when she noticed Bonnibel stare at where her textbook should be, giving her a look that said _aren't you going to get your things out?_

"I don't _do_ lessons, I'm not a nerd like some people." It was meant to be at least a little bit mean, but Bonnibel just let out another little giggle and Marceline was soon realising that she was losing her edge. _This is unheard of, I've never_ not _been seen as mean or scary before. Usually my glaring scares people off_.

"I don't know what your old schools were like, but here we have a strict no truancy policy. You're sick? Call in, sign one of the sheets in the reception. Family crisis? Same thing. There's no getting out of lessons here, and if somehow you are found out to be skipping lessons then you're going to be stuck in a detention for the weekend."

Marceline blinked. "Harsh, but I'll take the risk."

"You're not going to ask how I know you've been to more than one school?" Bonnibel asked after a minute of silence. "Usually people like you want to keep an air of mystery to them, y'know."

"People like me?" Marceline said with an amused smirk, arching a brow at Bonnibel's comment. "I'm mysterious enough as it is, pinkie," Bonnibel opened her mouth, probably to comment on the nickname, but Marceline continued anyways. "And anyways, I figure you're some sort of student body president, right?" It made sense. Straight A's, 100% attendance, and this air of 'I'm better than you at most things but I'm too nice to say it' hung heavily over Bonnibel. Marceline found it kind of amusing how surprised Bonnibel looked.

"I…yes, I am. So if you don't go to lessons _I'll_ be the one to collect you. From wherever you are, and for your detentions, too." Bonnibel commented, scribbling down the next question on the board.

Marceline decided that she was best off not asking the other girl if she had a life, and instead copied Bonnibel's answers to each of the questions quietly.

As their History lesson ended, Marceline strangely found herself packing up and waiting for Bonnibel so that they could leave together.

"Are you going to the party tonight?" Marceline asked, shouldering her backpack as they left the room.

"Yes, only for a little while though. I have homework that really needs to be done for next week and my parents want me back by eight," Bonnibel answered with a smile. "You?"

"Hell yeah," At Bonnibel's giggle, Marceline's grin dropped off her face completely. "Wait- what?"

"It's probably not going to be what you expect, you know. It's just…we don't exactly _do_ parties the way everyone else does them. We sit around Lady's room drinking cheap bear and play never have I ever."

"I'll go wherever the booze is," And then, "I'm surprised you guys even drink anything. Where are your parents when you guys have these 'parties'?" She teased, adding air quotes with a smirk.

"We actually drink with adult permission, if that's what you're so _worried_ about." Bonnibel laughed. Marceline was about to tell her that she was far from worried, but decided against it and instead watched as Bonnibel entered one of the classrooms. "I'll come collect you at dinner, yeah?"

"Right, yeah," Marceline replied with a grin. "I'll be…waiting."

* * *

Marceline _hated_ maths. So, it was only natural that Marceline spent most of the lesson wishing it would end. Well, she also kind of wanted to see what the losers did for dinner. Did they have a room to stay in then too? She had no idea but she assumed they did; when she went for dinner the previous week Finn was nowhere to be found.

She found herself stood awkwardly outside the maths room when the dreaded lesson ended, easily peering over the tops of everyone's heads to look for Bonnibel's pink hair. When she caught a glimpse of it under the baseball cap, Marceline relaxed ever so slightly, and smiled to herself when Bonnibel called her name.

"So, where to Bonnibel?" Marceline asked, looping her thumbs around the straps of her backpack.

"The rest of us are outside," Bonnibel replied, mirroring Marceline's action with her own bag. "But I need to go get my food first and I'd appreciate the company if you don't mind?" At Marceline's shrug Bonnibel lead them to the busy cafeteria and queued up behind her in line.

Luckily, her reputation hadn't gone completely to balls, as a few of the students behind them seemed wary of her being even close to them. So, when Bonnibel was choosing her food, Marceline gave them an angry glare for good measure, smiling when they went wide eyed and looked everywhere but her direction.

"Alright," Bonnibel huffed when she'd gotten her food. "You up for a little walk?"

"Depends on how long it is," Marceline muttered, giving the kids behind her another quick glare. "I don't do well with exercise."

Bonnibel laughed gently, pushing open a set of doors that led out onto the grass surrounding the school. "See that tree?"

Marceline glanced in the vague direction Bonnibel was looking, and was two hundred percent sure she new exactly the tree she was talking about. "The willow?"

"Mhm, that's where we have lunch. And during exam periods we've hung out there to do work. It's especially nice nearing the summer holidays; we get an ice cream truck at the front of the school and it's _lovely_." Bonnibel explained as they headed up to the tree, perched on a small hill.

Marceline suddenly felt like she was intruding. _You don't belong here, they have a nice thing going on. Why would you want to ruin it?_

"Uh, listen- I appreciate the invite but I'm not-,"

" _Join us,_ Marceline. In case you haven't noticed we actually like being friends with you." _Okay Miss psychic._

" _Fine_."

As they got up to the willow tree, Marceline saw that Finn had climbed up onto one of the many branches. Someone was playing music from their phone, most likely Phoebe's as she had a speaker next to where she sat cross legged at the base of the tree. Lady was making what looked to be daisy chains, and Jake was wearing one on his head and two on his wrist. Marceline felt Bonnibel's hand on her wrist and she was pulled down onto the grass beside her.

"I told her that our parties are lame guys," Bonnibel sang, smiling when she saw Marceline laugh to herself.

Finn let out an offended gasp from wherever he was in the tree. "They are _not_ lame Bonnibel. How could you possibly even suggest such a thing?"

"Last week we watched the lord of the rings and got into our pyjamas. Marceline thought there'd be…I don't know? Pot brownies and- stop laughing and help me out, you jerk."

"First of all, I've never even laid eyes on a pot brownie," Marceline said through laughter. "Second of all, I guess when I hear party I think _party_ , y'know? Not some sleepover without the best bit." Finn promptly fell out the tree. "Uhm, should we be worried?" Marceline whispered to Bonnibel, watching as the young boy rolled around on the floor in front of them.

"He does this at least twice a day," Bonnibel said. "Right Finn?"

"Marceline has a point," Finn groaned. "We don't party."

"We _could_ but our parents would kill us," Phoebe spoke up. "So we lie to ourselves and call it a party when the wildest thing we do is sip beers that Lady's dad buys us."

"The wildest thing we've ever done is when Finn sprained his wrist when he fell down the stairs." Jake muttered, watching as Lady finished another daisy chain. This time, she placed it on Bonnibel's head.

Marceline snorted. "Looks like I'm exactly what the doctor _didn't_ order, then. I'm going to make your parties hella wild."

"Did you just say hella?" Bonnibel asked. "Also, there's more of a chance that we're going to get you in a onesie than anything. We have a few sleepovers in the holidays."

Marceline shrugged. "I guess we can even each other out. You guys can soften me up and I'll show you the better things in life. However, I have a feeling miss student council president over here wouldn't dare to do half the stuff I recommend."

"Try me." Bonnibel surprisingly shot back with an impish smirk. Marceline's stomach wavered at the sight, and she distracted herself with stealing the cap on Bonnibel's head.

"Skip a lesson with me one day,"

"Ha!" Bonnibel barked, taking her cap right back off her with a wild grin. "No, no, nope. That is _never_ going to happen."

"See? Maybe it's not the parties, maybe _you're_ the lame one." Marceline teased. "Suck on that."

Jake laughed from where he was sat, the daisy chain atop his head falling over his face. "You'll enjoy the party, Marceline. We promise."

"Well, as I told Bonnibel earlier, I'm wherever the booze is at."

* * *

At the end of the day, Marceline was once again collected from her lesson by Bonnibel and Lady. She wasn't going to lie to herself, she was _kind of_ excited for this little get together that they were having, even if it wasn't as wild as the ones she attended at the other schools.

She followed them out of the school building and into the car park, where the others were already getting in a car. Marceline bit her lip, watching as Lady automatically sat on Jake's lap, leaving one spare space for two people.

Marceline cleared her throat awkwardly and turned to Bonnibel. "Uhm, after you?"

"Are you kidding? You'll crush me with those long limbs of yours." _Okay, first of all, rude._

"Fine, fine." Marceline slid into the seat, staying quiet as Bonnibel sat herself down on her lap and closed the door after them.

"And here I thought it'd be Finn that'd end up with Bonnibel on his lap," Phoebe teased from beside them as they set off to Lady's house.

Finn scoffed. "I'm not crushing on her any more," He complained, crossing his arms over his chest from the passenger seat. "I understand when I don't have a chance."

Marceline smirked. "That's why you got so defensive when I called her your girlfriend."

"I didn't get defensive." He defended. "It's not my fault I was crushing on Bonnibel for years."

From Marceline's knee, Bonnibel finally spoke up. "I can't believe you didn't realise sooner, to be honest. I mean, the amount of times that Brad Simmons asked me out was enough to make Leila flip out last year."

"Who's Brad?" Marceline asked her gently, slowly getting more comfortable with the fact that this girl was on her god damn knee.

"A boy, complete _dreamboat_ of a basketball player. Just not my type."

Marceline snorted. "Sounds like everyone's type. Is he cute?" _An alien, perhaps?_

"Definitely," Bonnibel replied with a laugh. "but I'm gay as rainbows and he's, well, a man."

 _Oh, that makes so much more sense._ "Awesome." She said with a smile. "That's…cool, I think? I don't know, no ones ever came out to me before. Uh,"

"Don't worry about it," Bonnibel soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a sweet little smile. _Damn, maybe I'm not straight. Wait? What the fuck._ "As long as you're not homophobic then you're okay."

"I'm more than okay," Marceline mumbled under her breath. Bonnibel looked at her like she had in the art room, and Marceline was worried that she'd heard her or something. But then Bonnibel's hand moved her long hair out of the way and her eyes narrowed on her neck.

"Yo that's fuckin' gnarly," Jake exclaimed, leaning forwards to get a better look. "Who'd you piss off to get that?"

Marceline chuckled lightly, remembering how she got the two nasty scars on her neck as if it were yesterday. "It was the second time I had gotten drunk, I think. We were drinking fancy wines and long story short I fell into a pile of empty bottles on my way to the bathroom." She mused. "I was surprised when I woke up in the hospital and I wasn't dead."

"They look deep," Bonnibel mumbled. "Stitches?"

"Yup, needed seven I think? Wasn't my best moment."

"We're here," Jakes brother called from the drivers seat. Marceline couldn't really remember his name, Jeremy or something?

Bonnibel opened the door and slid off of Marceline's knee. Marceline was surprised that Bonnibel stood with the door open waiting for her to get out.

"Thanks," She muttered, watching as everyone started walking up to what she presumed was Lady's house. She followed in pursuit.

Lady's bedroom had no real colour scheme, much like Marceline's, yet her colour scheme was more on the bright side than Marceline's was. Jake had gone with Finn to get the beer, leaving Marceline with the rest of the girls to sit on Lady's soft carpeted floor.

"What should we start with?"

"Never have I ever? I'd like to get to know some of you guys," Marceline offered, smiling when the boys came back with a pack of beers.

"Same here," Phoebe said casually. "I don't actually know you guys that well."

"Right, because _you're_ a delinquent who was kept back a year."

"Wait, so you guys have only been friends for?"

"A couple months," Phoebe replied.

Marceline nodded and gave her one of her signature smirks. "Why'd you get kept back a year?"

" _That_ sounds like an answer for a truth or dare situation," Finn began, passing the beers around. "Y'know, _if_ Phoebe picks truth."

Marceline rolled her eyes and sighed, gladly taking the beer that was handed to her and taking a sip. _Ah, cheep and bad tasting. Brings back memories._ Jake plopped down next to Lady, handing her his beer and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Marceline's mouth fell open. "I- You guys- You're-" At Bonnibel's giggles, Marceline decided to click her mouth shut and remain silent.

"Two years," Bonnibel answered her unspoken question. "And if you haven't noticed, Jake is Finn's brother."

"I- Wha-?" Marceline stammered, earning her another cute giggle. _Fuck. Stop being so damn awkward. What a loser._

"Alright, we all know the rules," Jake began. "I'll start. Never have I ever fallen asleep on a bus and ended up somewhere completely different."

Marceline watched as both Lady and Phoebe took a sip of their beers, making it less weird for her when she took a drink too. _What can I say? I love napping._

"My turn," Marceline watched as Finn rolled his eyes up in thought, before he grinned and leaned forward. "Never have I ever had a crush on someone older than me,"

Lady drank again, scowling over at Finn and muttering something under her breath. Marceline also took another sip, and was surprised when Bonnibel took a drink of hers.

"Wait, Bonnibel's older than you, Finn." Phoebe said with a laugh. "You _do_ know how this game works, right?"

Finn's cheeks heated up quickly but drank the beer all the same. "I forgot, okay?"

"My turn, I guess? Hm, never have I ever flown in a plane."

Marceline was the only one who took a drink. "I swear Phoebe, you're trying to get me drunk." She joked.

Phoebe raised a brow. "Maybe I am." A pause. "Kidding. I don't swing for Bonnibel's team."

"Damn," Bonnibel said, tucking her hair behind her ear and smiling lightly. "C'mon, Phoebe, we need more batters. Never have I ever fallen in love with someone the opposite sex."

At that nearly everyone drank, everyone except Marceline and Bonnibel. The latter didn't seem too fazed by Marceline not drinking, however Phoebe and Finn both raised some questions.

"Woah, woah, wait, are you gay?"

"I thought you were straight?"

"Not gay, no," She answered Phoebe with a chuckle. "But I guess I'm not exactly straight either? I don't know, I've never even thought about it."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Bonnibel smile up at her. "I only came out last year, there's no need to rush."

"Yeah, thanks." _Holy shit there is no way I just told everyone that I'm not straight. What the fuck is wrong with me?_ "Never have I ever gotten straight A's." She turned to smirk at Bonnibel, who glared at her and lightly slapped her arm.

"Jerk," She muttered around the bottle.

"Never have I ever worn skinny jeans for two weeks straight." Lady said, sending Marceline a knowing smile.

"I swear to god, I'm gonna need another beer."

"We can use your bottle for spin the bottle later, it's fine." Jake said. "And before you panic, we have forfeits and it's usually just cheek kissing." _Thank god._

"Good, none of you want my pierced tongue anywhere near yours anyway," Bonnibel arched a brow at her. "What?"

"I do _not_ believe you have a tongue piercing. The school doesn't allow piercings, other than two ear piercings."

Jake cleared his throat. "And bellybutton piercings, apparently."

" _You_ have a bellybutton piercing? Dang, maybe you really are hardcore." Marceline teased, prodding Bonnibel's side with her finger. "Also," She stuck her tongue out just to prove that _yes_ she pierced her tongue and _no_ she wasn't lying.

"Why am I not surprised that it's spiked?" Phoebe muttered under her breath behind a smirk.

Marceline rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, isn't it Jakes turn?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, never have I ever gotten black out drunk."

Once again, it was Marceline's turn to take a sip.

After a few more rounds of never have I ever, Marceline learning that Bonnibel and Phoebe had never kissed anyone, Jake suggested that they play a quick round of truth or dare.

Which, okay, was completely understandable because Marceline _had_ been taking sips between rounds and only had a mouthful of beer left.

"I'll start." Phoebe offered. "Finn, truth or dare?"

"Uh, well if I choose dare then you'll make me do something stupid, but if I choose truth then you'll make me tell all my secrets." Finn began blabbering. "But then again, maybe you won't. Dare."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Chug the rest of your beer."

Both Marceline and Jake cheered for him as he began downing the booze, yet he ended up with half of it on his shirt anyway.

Finn cleared his throat and directed his gaze onto Marceline. "Truth or dare, Abadeer?"

"Dare, duh."

"Uhm, kiss everyone."

Marceline snorted. _Of course this kid would go with something as immature as that._ "Sheesh, alright, pucker up everyone."

She surprised Lady by leaning towards her, but everyone seemed to relax a little when Marceline gave her a simple kiss on the cheek. Jake was _still_ uncomfortable when Marceline gave him a peck on the cheek but hey, so was she. She kissed Finn as quickly as possibly, not really liking the eager grin on his face as she neared him. Phoebe was the one who looked the least offended, to be fair, as she smiled and told her that she still didn't swing that way. To which Marceline replied with 'more of a croquet person, eh?' and made everyone laugh.

"You missed Bonnibel," Finn mumbled, cheeks flushed red from the alcohol. Marceline rolled her eyes and leaned to give Bonnibel a kiss on the cheek. Only, she _had_ basically drank all her beer, so the kiss landed more on the corner of Bonnibel's mouth than her cheek, but no one seemed to notice and Marceline wasn't one for being embarrassed. That didn't stop Bonnibel's cheeks from going a light shade of pink.

"Sorry Bonnie," She whispered after she had dared Jake to use Lady's hairspray on his own hair. "I'm a little, uh, not drunk. What's the word?"

Bonnibel giggled. "Tipsy?"

"Mhm," Marceline nodded. "And I'm not exactly co-ordinated anyway, so."

"It's fine, Marceline. You're good." Bonnibel said through her pretty laughter.

Marceline let out a sigh of relief and watched as Phoebe sent a text on Lady's phone, grinning wickedly and letting out a loud laugh when Lady read it out loud.

"Bonnie," Lady announced, pulling both girls out of their weird bubble that Marceline had put them in. "I dare you to kiss someone's stomach."

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "Easy, can I choose who?" At Lady's nod, Bonnibel shuffled closer to Marceline and pressed a light kiss to her stomach. Marceline was torn between wanting to move away because of how ticklish she was and wanting to ask Bonnibel why she chose _her_ that quickly.

"Marceline, truth or dare."

"Truth, I guess?"

"Are you uh, single?" The way Bonnibel asked, coupled with the lip bite and the light blush on her cheeks, made her look so freaking _cute_ that Marceline just wanted to wrap her up and take her home.

"Yeah, you?" Suddenly forgetting the rules of the game, Marceline sent the pink haired girl a small smile.

"Very single. All the time," Bonnibel breathed. "No one else is gay at school."

"Ah, that sucks."

After playing spin the bottle, in which Marceline wasn't kissed at all, thank god, they watched half a movie before Phoebe had to leave at seven.

And then it was Bonnibel's turn to announce that she was leaving.

"I could walk with you, if you want?" Marceline offered, standing up unsteadily.

Bonnibel giggled. "You're borderline drunk, Marcy, are you sure?" _Marcy?_

"Yeah, I walk home anyway. It's cool."

Bonnibel bit her lip. "At least let me call a taxi for you? You shouldn't be walking home while drunk at this time of night.

Marceline couldn't exactly argue with Bonnibel's nerd logic, and followed Bonnibel downstairs and out the door.

"Where do you live?" Marceline muttered, suddenly grateful for the hoodie that she had put on that morning. Bonnibel also looked quite warm in her sweater.

"A few blocks away." At Marceline's disgruntled sigh, Bonnibel was quick to add, "Not too far, I promise."

Surprisingly, it wasn't that far. Maybe it was because her and Bonnibel had been playfully pushing each other on the pavement, but they were suddenly outside Bonnibel's house and Bonnibel was calling a taxi for her.

"Thank you for walking me home, Marceline," Bonnibel sang.

"Uh, Marcy was fine, I'm cool with-" She cut herself when Bonnie pressed a small kiss to her temple, and then left her waiting on the pavement like a blushing idiot. "I'm cool with _that_."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter is a little over 4k words. Not much happens, apart from some fluffy scenes and a bit of background information and plot.**

 **Also, I** **'m here to answer some of your reviews (from both previous chapters) because I can't answer all of them via pm- that'd be socially exhausting for me and some of you might receive similar answers.**

 **Guest: Yes! You should write some fanfictions! I feel honoured that somehow I've elicited that kind of thought from you, guest, as I used to look up to all those people who wrote drarry (** ** _cringe_** **) fics and made me feel special when they gave me shoutouts.**

 **MarCor3 (from your c1 review): Marceline being an ass will return, I promise. She's just a little…** ** _overwhelmed_** **at the minute. I like her being an ass, too, MarCor3, I want her to step on my hopes and dreams and call me a** ** _dingus_** **. *sweats***

 **(Content warnings: more fluff, more swearing, a little bit of plot sprinkled on top, two oz of Marceline wearing shorts and…where was I?)**

* * *

It was really freaking odd how much Marceline had changed in the span of three days _just_ because she'd met a group of nerds who were adamant to soften her up into a big marshmallow. Lady's words, of course, not hers. She still groaned when her alarm went off on Wednesday, however, and she rolled out of bed like a blanket burrito to find that she had quite a few texts from her friends. Because that's what they were now, her friends. There was really no use lying to herself.

 ** _Finn (6:48):_** _Yo, you better go to Bonnie's study session or else she'll cry. Then I'd have to beat you up._

 _Try me, Finn,_ Marceline thought to herself with a roll of her eyes.

 ** _Marceline (7:03):_** _Wouldn't dream of making her cry, I have a feeling she's scary when she's upset._

 ** _Jake (6:41):_** _Have fun with Bonnibel today, don't forget to go!_

 ** _Lady (6:50):_** _Bonnibel would really appreciate if you went to her study sessions. They're pretty chill, I promise!_

Marceline blinked. _Damn, they really want me to go?_

 ** _Marceline (7:06):_** _I'm going! Don't worry about it._

She sent them both the same text, seeing as they pretty much sent her the same text. Her thumb hovered over the last person who had texted her.

 ** _Bonnie (6:00):_** _History homework should be due in tomorrow, so I figured we could start off light tonight and look over what you've done already? I'd also like to know when you're free on the weekends? I'd like for you to come over then so we can discuss better times for you than Wednesday evenings._

 ** _Bonnie (6:04):_** _Oh, almost forgot! You don't have to stay for the full three hours. That time limit is only there so if we run over we don't have to worry. We can do three sets of one hour, work during study periods, or we can hang out over the weekends to get in some studying._

Marceline weirdly found herself grinning, rereading the part where Bonnibel had practically invited her to her house.

 ** _Marceline (7:10):_** _I'm free all weekend, luckily for you ;)_

 ** _Marceline (7:11):_** _And I'm cool with doing three sets of one hour periods_

Deciding that it was definitely a leather jacket and ripped skinny jeans kind of day, she threw on a band tee and a beanie to complete her look. She even quickly ran a hand through her hair before she went out the door.

 ** _Bonnie (7:23):_** _You up for a study date this Saturday then?_

Marceline was shocked at how quickly Bonnibel had replied, and tapped out her response with a wide grin.

 ** _Marceline (7:25):_** _Of course, nerd alert_

She tried not to let the fact that Bonnibel had used the word _date_ and left the house in a rush, shouting a farewell to her dad as she yanked her shoes on. _She just means the friendly, get together sort of date. And why would I care if it was a date? It's not like I'm attracted to her or anything. Fuck._

* * *

"P.E isn't all that bad, Marcy," Bonnibel told her as she dragged Marceline through the school by her sleeve. Marceline resisted the urge to roll her eyes and scoff. "Plus, there are cute girls getting undressed and everything, it's all very productive."

Marceline blinked in surprise. "Didn't peg you for a pervert, Bon, I'll be sure to find a bathroom stall to get changed in." Bonnibel downright _pouted_ at her, big blue eyes doing the puppy dog thing and everything. _Stupid fucking cute girls._ "All right, sheesh, I'll let you stare at me while I change."

 _That_ made Bonnibel blush, staring wide eyed up at Marceline in shock. Marceline guffawed. "Holy shit, I'm joking. I know you're not a pervert, Bonnie." _Holy shit are you cute when you blush, though._

Bonnibel simply huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I've never had someone who also isn't straight before, okay? It's always been a weird dream of mine to just sit and talk about cute girls with someone who _isn't_ Finn and Jake."

"Which is understandable," Marceline nodded. "I mean, being the only gay person must fucking suck. No one to date, no one to confide in. Straights have it easy, man."

Bonnibel turned into another room and Marceline suddenly found herself _very_ interested in the tiled flooring.

"Holy shit," She hissed to Bonnibel once they had found a place to get changed. "You were fucking right." _Don't look at anyone's boobs, don't look at them. Just think about bunnies and holy shit she has a nice ass who the fuck is she?_

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "Always am, remember? And you should really hurry up and change, we only have a few minutes."

Marceline groaned. "I don't have anything to change into, I'm a delinquent." Bonnibel threw a spare kit her way.

Of course, while Marceline was in the middle of slipping the shirt on, she noticed Bonnibel was blushing to herself again and staring directly away from Marceline.

"You okay there, Bon?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm good. I'm great, actually. Have you got a top on yet?"

Marceline chuckled to herself and slid the shirt on entirely. "Yes." And as soon as Bonnibel turned back around, Marceline made sure to begin unzipping her jeans to pull them off.

"I _hate_ you," Bonnibel hissed, slapping her arm and whipping around once more. Marceline rolled her eyes.

"Not into my rockin' bod then?" Marceline asked, giving Bonnie an eyebrow wiggle as they tugged on their shoes.

"Shut up," Bonnibel muttered for what seemed to be the twentieth time that week. Marceline just grinned broadly. "C'mon, lets go."

They crossed the field to the rest of the class with the few others that had only just finished getting changed, and Marceline decided that she quite liked Bonnibel in shorts. _God I'm fucking gay. How in the fuck did I not notice before? How was I even ever straight?_

"You're staring at me," Bonnibel mumbled when they had joined the group. This time, it was Marceline's turn to blush. "Ha, paybacks a bitch."

"Did you just swear?"

"Yes."

" _Bonnibel,_ what would your mother say?" Marceline teased, really not paying attention to what the teacher was saying. "You've got a vulgar mouth,"

"Oh please," Bonnibel replied with a scoff. "Says the girl who swore at the teacher yesterday and almost got a detention."

"Vulgar, absolutely disgusting, I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap." Marceline continued, smirking when Bonnibel rolled her eyes and tightened her ponytail.

The teacher blew the whistle, then, and everyone seemed to split off into pairs of two. As she glanced around to find even a hint of what they were supposed to be doing, she noticed Finn and Phoebe stood a few feet away from them, and Lady and Jake beside them. _Did they see me staring at Bonnibel's butt?_ Marceline suddenly felt a whole lot warmer than when she first came outside, and looked back to Bonnie before her brain could come up with other stupid thoughts.

"I take it you weren't listening?" Bonnibel asked quietly.

"You were distracting me," Marceline grumbled. "I cannot believe you swore at me." She added quickly, just to clear up what _exactly_ had distracted her.

Bonnibel narrowed her eyes. "Well, that makes two of us. I guess we just go along with what everyone else does?"

"Mhm." Marceline nodded, watching and waiting for Jake and Lady to do _something._

And then the music started up, all classic sounding and slow, and Marceline realised why everyone was stood so close together. "We're _dancing_?" She hissed. "What sort of bullshit-,"

"Shush," Bonnibel whispered back to her, taking her hand and placing it firmly against her waist. "Just go along with it before the teacher sees we're not doing anything."

Marceline, all the while complaining under her breath, took Bonnibel's hand in her own and guided her through the steps. Her father had made her take dancing lessons before, so a simple slow dance like this was as easy as basic maths.

"This is weirdly relaxing," Bonnibel said through a yawn. "I could fall asleep if we weren't stood up."

"Hm, I can fall asleep standing up. I fucking love sleeping." Marceline replied with a small smile. She wasn't really aware that the music had stopped, but allowed Bonnibel to pull away all the same.

"I think she just said your posture was the best," Bonnibel said, once the teacher had started talking again.

Marceline smirked in reply, closing her eyes due to the sun and letting herself relax a little bit more. "You know, if it were socially acceptable I'd fall asleep right now."

"Please don't, I need someone for the rest of this period."

Marceline let out a small chuckle and opened her eyes to stare down at Bonnibel, now pouting once more. "Fine, I won't. I'll nap when I get home or something."

"Don't you sleep at night?" Bonnibel asked in that gentle way she spoke sometimes, but something in the back of Marceline's mind told her that she already knew the answer to that, oddly.

"Depends," Marceline replied with a shrug, really wishing she had pockets to slide her hands in. "Who told you I moved around a lot?"

"Your files. I didn't look through them or anything, don't worry, but as student council president I have to look through medical things and such." _Makes sense._ "It's just to make sure that I know what to do in the situation of…lets say you eat garlic or… _tomatoes_." _Blech,_ Marceline stuck her tongue out. "Exactly. Luckily for you I'm also trained in first aid and I help out the school nurse on Fridays."

"Of course you do," Marceline teased, prodding her friend in the side. "Your every teachers wet dream, you are."

Bonnibel's face crumpled into a look of disgust. "Oh my god, what the _hell_ Marceline?" Marceline simply laughed in reply. "That's- that's _distasteful,_ I can't believe you-,"

"I'm joking, sheesh," Marceline defended, grin wavering when Bonnibel punched her in the shoulder a few times. "C'mon, nerd alert, stop beating me up and pay attention to the teacher."

"Why is Butler beating you up this time, Marceline?" Lady and Jake were walking up behind them, the latter of the two grinning and shaking his head as Bonnibel continued to attack.

" _Butler_?" Marceline furrowed her brows, pushing Bonnibel away so that she was at arms length. "Holy _shit_ why didn't you tell me your family worked for my dad?"

"Is that a problem?" Lady inquired, eyebrow arching as her eyes flicked between the two girls in front of her.

Marceline shook her head no and felt Bonnibel relax under her palms. _Fuck I just made her worry_. "My dad is a jackass." She explained, letting go of Bonnie's shoulders. "The only reason we moved here is because the Butler family wanted to buy half his business and ended up working for him."

Bonnibel blinked. "Remind me to thank my parents." Marceline opened her mouth to ask her _what the fuck she meant by that_ but all that came out was a weird strangled sound because of the sudden lump in her throat.

Jake gave her a knowing smirk, shaking his head and grabbing Lady by the wrist. "C'mon, babe, lets leave these two lo- uhm, losers, alone."

Marceline _knew_ what Jake wanted to say, knew the look of realisation that dawned across Lady's face, and she downright glared daggers after them as they walked away to a different part of the field. Bonnibel was staring at the grass.

Just as the silence reached the phase of 'oh my god I'm going to have to talk about the weather' awkward, the teacher blew her whistle and the students began to gather round.

"I'd like two teams of two to come up here and demonstrate the next activity, please and thank you." She ordered over the buzz of conversation. Of course Bonnibel grabbed Marceline's elbow and tugged her to the front. "Abadeer, Butler. Who else?" Another pair of girls stood forward and the teacher began to explain. "Has anybody here heard of the trust activity Blind Crossing?" _Trust activity? What are we, a group of kids?_ There were a few scattered yes' and no's, but Marceline was too busy wondering why the _fuck_ they were doing trust activities in _physical education?_ "Well, as these four are going to demonstrate for us in their pairs, it's an activity in which one of you is blindfolded." And before she could stop herself, Marceline nudged Bonnibel with her elbow and muttered out 'kinky'. Bonnibel's response was a hit to her stomach. "The other person will then stand a reasonable distance away from the blindfolded person and has to guide them towards them using directions."

"Where are the blindfolds?" One of the kids asked. _Up your ass._

The teacher pulled them out of her coat pockets, handing one to Bonnibel and another to one of the other girls. "I'd like you both to put these on while your partner stands somewhere. Don't start until I tell you all to."

Marceline inhaled sharply, waiting for Bonnibel to comfortably put the blindfold on before she moved. Didn't want her cheating or anything. Marceline silently moved to very back of the crowd, and smirked when the teacher told her to start.

"Turn around," She called carefully, peering over the tops of heads to see her friend. "No, not that much,"

"Be more specific," Bonnibel all but shrieked. "Did you mean a full turn or a-,"

"Why the _hell_ would I want you to face the exact same you were already facing?" Marceline interrupted her, teasing and light. "Turn to your left and then, like, shuffle to the side either way a little bit," Marceline commanded, trying to get her friend to go through the crowd instead of around. The other two girls were too busy gigging to actually tell each other what to do.

Bonnibel got a small shock when she felt another persons arm. "Is this you?"

"You're not even close, take two steps forward." Bonnibel did as she was told and was suddenly right in front of Phoebe. "Okay, so you wanna shuffle around our friend and then take a step to the right."

"You _had_ to make this difficult didn't you?" Bonnibel crossed her arms over chest as she obeyed.

Marceline shrugged to herself. "Take like three more steps, okay those aren't steps those are little baby shuffles."

From beneath her blindfold, Bonnie's face went pink. "I don't want to collide head first into a random person, okay?"

"Turn left and go straight?" Marceline chanced, wanting to throw her off a little bit so she wasn't facing in one direction the entire time.

"Now that's the hardest thing you've asked of me," Bonnibel said through a smile, earning a few laughs from the other students. Even the teacher looked amused.

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Take a right and like…four steps?" She already knew she'd miscalculated before Bonnibel slammed into her face first, but it was worth the dull pain in her chest when Bonnibel lifted her blindfold to peer up at her, face even pinker than before.

"I hate you."

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't done the history homework?"

Marceline jokingly flinched back, grinning cheekily as Bonnibel tried her best at a glare from where she was sat in the library. School had only just let out, meaning that Marceline had a good solid hour with Bonnibel. Not that she _wanted_ to spend an hour studying, of course. It was more of a 'who would you pick to spend the month on a desert island with?' sort of ordeal; Bonnibel was much easier to talk to than the others for Marceline, and she had the prettiest laugh Marceline had ever heard in her entirety of living.

"I wasn't…present for any of last weeks lessons," Marceline responded to Bonnibel's almost yelling. "So technically I don't have any homework."

"You're doing the homework, Marcy," Bonnibel said under her breath as Marceline pulled up a chair next to her. _Damn, how can I say no to 'marcy'?_ "Plus, you'll get brownie points for doing homework you weren't there to receive. Maybe the teacher will let you off with one of the future homeworks. That is, if we don't go over it during these study periods."

Marceline arched a brow. "Are you helping me get out of doing homework? And here I thought you were a saint."

"Right," Bonnibel snorted, unloading the contents of her bag out onto the table. "Yeah, pretty sure they don't let saints be as gay as I am. Plus, bellybutton piercing, remember?"

 _Actually I've been trying not to think about your stomach, so fuck this particular conversation._ Marceline thought, fighting the blush threatening to creep up her neck. Bonnibel waved a pen in her face. "Those are pretty excusable when you compare them to what I've done." She snickered, taking the offered pen. "Bet you've never smoked a cigarette."

"Ew, no." Bonnibel answered, face crumpling in disgust. Marceline almost felt a little bad for even bringing it up. "You don't smoke _now_ , right?"

Marceline let out a short laugh and shook her head no, watching as Bonnibel flicked through an American West textbook to page 69. She snorted and decided to take her notepad out, before Bonnibel maimed her for not being prepared.

"The question is simple, really, why did the American Indians use tipis and how were they essential to their every day life? You get bonus points if you talk about the buffalo, by the way."

"Because they moved around a lot, yeah?" Marceline answered immediately. "So like, they packed away their tipis and followed the herds."

"Exactly," Bonnibel praised, giving her a smile. _Maybe this study session isn't as bad as I thought it would be._ "So what else about the tipis that _doesn't_ come to mind first?"

"Well, they believed a lot about circles and stuff, right?" At Bonnibel's nod, Marceline began writing all that she had said down onto her page. "And that would explain why the tipis are circular and…don't they face the sun or something like that?" Another nod. Good, she wasn't failing like a complete loser like she thought she would.

"And why else would they use a tipi and not something made of brick or wood?"

"Uh, they didn't have enough materials. So, wood was out of the question, and they were-," _Shit, what the fuck was that name? Shit, fuck, shit, fuck._ "Nomads?"

"Wonderful. Link all those points up and add a conclusion and we've done with your history homework."

It kind of felt odd, hearing this praise coming from someone about something that wasn't antisocial or destructive. Never once had Marceline actually handed a piece of homework in to a teacher before, nor had she ever been so eager to prove to someone (read: Bonnibel) that she could actually do something that proved useful to her education.

"How do you know all that," Bonnibel asked in that gentle tone of hers once Marceline started writing the concluding paragraph. "Off the top of your head I mean?"

"Good memory I guess?" Marceline mumbled, fingers toying at the hem of her shirt under the table. "I did the American West a while ago at one of my other schools, History was one of the only lessons I'd attend because some of my friends were in my lesson."

"Do you miss any of your friends?" Marceline didn't think Bonnibel's tone could get any gentler, but her voice was barely above a whisper as she rested her head on her arms, glancing up at Marceline with those big blue eyes.

Marceline shrugged. "Not really, most of them were a bunch of punks anyway. Complete opposite to you and the others."

"Okay, good, are you done now?" Marceline did a quick scan through, making sure she'd put down everything that she had wanted to write down _and_ link them back to the question. She nodded once she had done so. "We've passed the thirty minute mark, if you want to leave early I won't tell a soul."

"Didn't peg you as a dramatic," Marceline yawned, checking her watch. Bonnibel was spot on. "I'm fine with chilling here for a bit, if that's not a problem for you."

They both took a glance at the several different binders and textbooks that Bonnibel had pulled out, various sticky notes and other colourful labels sticking out of the pages and creasing from being at odd angles.

"We could go over some of your other subjects, if you want? Considering you missed your entire first week of lessons."

Marceline rolled her eyes but felt herself smile all the same. "Can't think of anything better to do," She mumbled, watching as Bonnibel's eyes lit up with joy. "Show me what your made of, nerd."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry this is late! Totally not my fault though, I swear. Got caught up rewatching the legend of korra & also I have a heap of half assed finished college work that I luckily got through recently. Also, sorry not sorry but I** **'m a movie buff and the eighties were the best years movie wise. Throw fists w/ me if you think otherwise.**

 **Content warning: no plot here whatsoever no sir not today, a dnd reference, fluff & domestic shit already? I luv, 10% less swearing than usual, the return of jerk!marceline, a flood of new characters, heterosexuals, one homophobic slur and more!**

* * *

Marceline awoke to the sound of rain pattering softly against her window, which was to be expected for September weather, really. She took in a deep breath, hating how unusually cold her bedroom was in a morning, and rolled over to check the time. _3:05_ her clock read, surprising her a little bit. _Oh. I_ _'ve been asleep for nearly twelve hours._ That was odd. Usually she got a couple of hours and woke up feeling fine. Never once had she gotten more than five hours. _Must be all these lessons that I've actually been doing for once,_ Marceline mused to herself, smiling a little as she allowed herself to listen to the rain.

Her phone buzzed from beside her alarm and Marceline outstretched her arm to grab it, but only succeeded in knocking it to the floor.

"Fuckn limbs," She grumbled, not pleased to have been created with an eighty to twenty limb to body ratio. Marceline retrieved her phone from the floor, wriggling back into her blanket for warmth and comfort. Her thumb was just hovering over the text when another one came through. She rolled her eyes when she noticed they were both from Bonnibel.

 ** _Bonnie (9:27):_** _Oh, I never asked what time you were coming today. My parents won't be back until nine, so we have all day to do whatever. Only if you want to though._

 ** _Bonnie (3:04):_** _Marceline? You are coming today right?_

Marceline rolled her eyes and tapped out her reply, stretching her legs off the edge of the bed as she yawned.

 ** _Marceline (3:05):_** _Just woke up, sorry bon. I'll be over later._

She stumbled over to her wardrobe, switching the light switch on her wall to see exactly what she was dealing with. She pulled some jeans from a hanger and tugged them on lazily, fingers blindly clasping around a sleeve of something and yanking that down too.

 _That's where my sweater went. Should check my closet more often._

Tugging the red and black striped sweater over her head, Marceline made to open her door. Before she even touched the handle, however, her father had pushed it open and was now stood at her door.

"Ah, uh, Marceline," _Ah, my father, the man of many words. Come to grace me with his eloquence and ever graceful presence._ Hudson took a glance at her outfit, then back at her room, then back to her. Obviously, he hadn't expected her to be up, never mind dressed and leaving her room. "You're going out, I presume?"

"Yeah," Marceline dragged the word out, shuffling around her father and closing her door with a soft _click,_ giving him her best smile. "Seeing Bonnie today, did I not tell you?"

Her father's mouth worked in a way that reminded Marceline of a fish out of water, and she very nearly snorted at the mental comparison. "Study buddy?"

"Yes? God, don't ever say those words again. I'm not five, daddy." Hudson sighed and he shook his head, _wonder what's on his mind today._

"Alright, I gotta leave before the nerd starts to believe I've cancelled on her or something," She muttered, checking her phone for any possible texts from her friend. "Bye, dad."

* * *

When Bonnibel answered the door to her house Marceline's gay ass noticed one thing and would not stop thinking about that one thing as she was invited inside. Bonnibel Butler was wearing a crop top. Of course, after hearing that Bonnibel had a bellybutton piercing all Marceline wanted to do was have a look (but that would have been a really fucking weird question) so it was only natural for her eyes to drift to her friends stomach.

Once she had finally tapped out of the fact that Bonnibel was wearing a crop top (and _shorts,_ she might add), Marceline took her shoes off and was ushered into the living room by her friend.

"I'd suggest an hour of study, but I've already started and believe it or not I don't actually thrive on having all my time taken up by work. I just enjoy doing it when it does." Bonnibel said, throwing herself down on the couch after retrieving a science textbook from the coffee table in front of her. "So…thirty minutes and a movie?" The pink haired girl chanced, looking up at Marceline with those big blue eyes of hers.

Marceline suddenly felt as if the world was against her. "Of course, as long as we go out for lunch later though. Haven't got food in me yet." At Bonnibel's glare, Marceline arched a brow. "What? It's not like I'm going to starve to death."

"No, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Bonnibel began as Marceline sat down next to her on the couch. "You can't just _not_ have breakfast."

"I'll make a deal with you," Marceline said before Bonnibel could start hitting her or something. "We study for a half hour, get food from wherever, and then come back here to watch a movie. Hows that sound?" Bonnibel nodded. "And hey, this'll be your chance to show me around town. The only places I've been are with my dad to pick up food for the new house."

Marceline's phone began buzzing in her pocket about twenty minutes into their study time and Bonnibel narrowed her eyes as Marceline took it out, answering the phone immediately. _It's not like ten minutes is going to change everything, nerd alert._ "Yo," She answered a little too cheerfully. "Is it important?"

From the other end of the call, she heard Jakes laugh. " _Not really, just wanted to know what you were doing for Halloween. October is only two days away and we usually gather somewhere in costumes._ "

"Sounds like a cult, I'm in." Marceline laughed. "The thirty-first is my birthday, though, so I usually avoid the day all together and hide in my room watching Orphan Black."

"Your birthday is on Halloween?" Bonnibel all but shrieked, closing her textbook in a hurry. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Marceline snorted. From the other end of the call, Jake gave a chuckle too. "I thought you knew, having read my files and all."

" _Before you two start bickering like you've been married twenty years, I'm going to have to press you for an answer. Lady's orders."_

"Right," Marceline rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure I'll come to your weird rituals. Better be gay, though."

Jake snorted. " _Oh hell yeah, it's gonna be gay as fuck._ "

Before Marceline could reply with a comment on the fact that the majority of the group were straight, Bonnibel took the phone from her hand and _huffed_ down the phone. "We can't have the party at my place Jake, so unless your parents are chill with us being in a field for Halloween then-,"

"We can have the party at my place. Also, we can drunk; my dads out of town for my birthday and you guys can sleep in my living room." Marceline offered.

" _Awesome, I gotta leave now but I'll see you Monday morning. Enjoy yourselves, and use protection. See you later!_ " Jake hung up before the girls could even register what he had said.

"Why is your dad out of town for your birthday? Shouldn't he be…I don't know, celebrating with you?" Bonnibel asked gently.

Marceline shrugged in response and let out a yawn, ignoring the small smile that crept onto Bonnie's face as she did so. "I'm _starving._ " Marceline said instead of giving Bonnibel her answer. "Go put something warm on and take me to the best food place, please."

Bonnibel did go upstairs to get changed into something warmer, and within that time Marceline had elected to finish off the last two questions on her maths homework. She only glanced up when Bonnibel's hand clasped around her sleeve and pulled her off the couch.

"Phoebe and Finn are at Tree Trunks waiting for Jake and Lady." Bonnibel told her as they pulled their shoes on. "Tree Trunks is the place _everyone_ goes to after school or for the first day of the holidays." She explained when she saw Marceline's confused stare. "We were planning to go as a double date for the first day of the winter holidays. I'd be the fifth wheel, of course."

"Wait," Marceline muttered, brows furrowing as she opened the door for her friend. "Phoebe and Finn are…?"

"No, not yet at least. Finn has a huge crush on her." Bonnibel replied. "You could come as my date though?" She chanced after locking the door and pocketing the key. "It'd make it a whole less awkward for me,"

"Uh," _Shit, oh my god. Did she just legitimately ask me out on a real date?_ "Yeah, course I'll be your date, nerd."

Bonnibel gave her a huge smile in reply and wrapped her hand around her friends wrist, tugging her along towards the middle of the small town.

* * *

Tree Trunks was to Finn and his gang what The Nightos was to Marceline and her old group of friends. Only, this place was a quaint little diner instead of a bar and the owner was a little old woman and not a burly guy who threatened to (and did, at one point) punch Marceline if she even looked at him.

Finn and Phoebe were sat on the counter, drinking milkshakes and laughing at something Finn had said when Marceline and Bonnibel had walked in. _Gross nerds._

"Marceline!" Finn cried when he saw them. "How goes the studying?"

Marceline shrugged a shoulder and slipped into a chair by the bar, reaching for a menu as she did so. "Did my maths homework, came for brain fuel." She eyed one of the breakfast dishes in interest and peered over the menu to look at Bonnie, who was leaning against the counter to talk to Phoebe.

"Do you think they'll serve breakfast at this time?"

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and grinned, nodding when she saw the playful scowl that Marceline quickly gave her. "Students come in for breakfast during the evenings when exam block starts," Bonnibel explained with the same grin. "Terry's pretty chill with things like that."

As if the woman had been summoned just by her name, the owner of the diner seemingly popped into existence besides Finn with a notepad in hand.

"Same as usual, Bonnibel?" At Bonnibel's nod, the little woman scribbled something onto the page and then glanced up at Marceline. "Is this the friend you were telling me about?"

at Bonnibel's red face, Phoebe and Finn were both suddenly very interested in what was going on. Marceline just arched a brow and grinned slyly. "Oh, so you've been telling people about me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Marceline," Bonnibel shot back in reply. "I thought you were hungry, anyway, why don't you order?"

 _Quick to change the topic, huh? What a nerd._ "Uh, yeah, just a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon please." Terry scribbled down her order with an all too amused smile on her face before Finn tapped her politely on the shoulder.

"Uh, can I have another shake? And some waffles?"

"Finn," Phoebe breathed through a barely contained laugh. "You've had _two_ shakes already. Don't you think you should cool it with the drinks?"

Finn frowned and shook his head. Marceline was worried it was about to drop off his shoulders and roll across the floor with the force. "Terry makes the best milkshakes for miles, Phoebe, I gotta have at least three whenever I'm here."

Marceline snorted. "If you throw up can I laugh at you?" She asked, half serious half jokingly.

"Of course." Finn nodded, face as serious as he could possibly muster. Marceline cracked a smile and turned back to Terry.

"I guess I'll try one of your famous milkshakes, though." She smirked. Terry's face lit up with joy. "Strawberry?"

"Of course, dear, and you'll get a discount too." Terry practically cheered.

Marceline arched a brow, frowning lightly. _Discount? For what?_ "Uh, but I don't have any coupons or anything."

Terry shook her head and smiled. Beside her, Bonnibel straightened her back to peer over at Marceline, clearly as confused as she was. "Any girl who manages to get into a relationship with my niece just _has_ to get one," Terry began, sending Marceline deeper into confusion.

Bonnibel didn't let her finish. "Terry, why don't I help you with you orders?" Terry opened her mouth to speak but Bonnibel already had two hands on her shoulders and was guiding her into the kitchens, blushing furiously and muttering apologies to Marceline as they passed.

Marceline blinked. "What just happened?"

From where he was sat, Finn shrugged and finished the last of his second milkshake. "Beats me, Terry never gave _me_ a discount for milkshakes."

"Yeah, dingus," Phoebe rolled her eyes. "That's because Terry thinks they're dating."

Both Marceline and Finn found themselves blushing. _Please tell me this is Phoebe's idea of a joke._

"Orders will be out in fifteen." Bonnibel's voice came from the entrance to the kitchens. She still seemed to be a little peeved that Terry had just assumed that she and Marceline were dating, but Marceline found the little blush on her cheeks to be rather endearing.

She gave her a cheeky grin to make sure Bonnibel knew she was (more than) okay with what had just happened. "Milkshakes?" She chanced.

"Five minutes," Bonnibel sighed, sliding back into her chair with a smile. Marceline's grin widened.

* * *

" _What happened to studying?_ "

Marceline's milkshake very nearly ended up all over her jeans at the shrill voice of Lady coming from behind them. Her and Bonnibel had decided to move over to a booth when their food had arrived, and somehow Phoebe had managed to persuade Finn to sit with them when he got his waffles.

Bonnibel giggled at Marceline's reaction, peering over her shoulder to glare jokingly at her friend. "It's not polite to give people heart attacks upon entering a room, Lady."

"You should be studying," Lady reiterated her point, grabbing hold of Jake's wrist. Jake seemed to be as confused as Finn. "That was the whole point of today."

Bonnibel shrugged a shoulder and turned back to the table, a small blush on her cheeks as she took Marceline's milkshake. The other girl didn't protest. "She hadn't had breakfast yet."

Jake and Lady ordered food after Bonnibel suffered a quick interrogation from the latter. Marceline ate her pancakes in peace, barely listening to the conversation between Finn and the girls, and allowing Bonnibel to drink her milkshake whenever (because, okay, Bonnibel was the definition of adorable when she had a large strawberry shake in hand, sipping through a straw and smiling at her friends).

 ** _Bonnibel (4:45):_** _If we set off now for the movie you'll be home by seven. Wanna bounce?_

Marceline hadn't seen Bonnibel's hands move to type out the text, but Bonnie wasn't paying her attention as she laughed at one of Jake's jokes. Marceline still snorted at the thought of Bonnibel using the words 'wanna bounce' in conversation unironically.

 ** _Marceline (4:46):_** _sure but how'd you do that without me noticing, u a witch or something?_

From beside her, Bonnibel's lips twitched upwards in a small smile. Marceline slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Marceline wants to be home by seven," Bonnibel sighed, almost feigning sadness at having to leave her friends. "So we're gonna jet and leave you four to it, have a nice night."

They both shuffled out of the booth, Marceline understanding that Bonnibel didn't want to have to tell them that they were going to watch a movie without them. Knowing Finn, he'd want to join in too.

"Are you sure? You still have just over two hours if you want to be home by then," Jake muttered, glancing at his watch just to make sure that it was in fact four.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "We're watching a movie. It'll most definitely be a sci-fi and no," She stared pointedly at Finn, who was now grinning in excitement. "You're not invited."

"Sheesh," Jake stared over at his brother, now sat deflated and frowning. "way to break his heart, Bonnibel."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Finn groaned from his slumped state. "Enjoy your movie date, guys," He waved a hand at them.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes again. "Boys,"

As they made their way out of the diner, Marceline smirked down at her friend as she opened the door for her.

"How chivalrous," She teased. "Such a gentlewoman."

"I swear if I roll my eyes once more today they'll be off down the street." Bonnibel muttered, following Marceline into the car park. Marceline's smirk grew and she opened her mouth to say something, but Bonnibel halted and all traces of joy fell from her face.

In front of them stood a tall, scruffy looking male around the same age as Marceline. Maybe older, judging by the fact that this guy had more stubble than Jake. His hair was the most ridiculous thing Marceline had ever seen in her entire life. _What sort of dipshit looks at a Mohawk and pigtails and goes 'these need to be combined'._ And, okay, maybe Marceline was exaggerating on the pigtails but this guy had two long ass ponytails coming just past his chest. _What a clown._

"What do you want, Ash?" Bonnibel bit.

 _Ash_ gave them both a wolfish grin, hands sliding into jean pockets as he eyed Marceline. "Didn't know it was illegal to go to a diner, Banner," He muttered dryly, steel eyes still focussed solely on Marceline.

Deciding that this piece of _trash_ wasn't worth her time, Marceline decided to ignore him completely, and whispered not so subtly to Bonnibel, "Who's this douche bag?" Ash noticeably bristled and narrowed his eyes.

"Ex boyfriend." Bonnibel stated, sighing harshly as she stared back at him. "I thought you were supposed to be moving to Greyport?"

Ash gave a dry laugh, glancing at the floor with an all too cocky smirk as he scuffed his boots across the floor. "My ma's birthday is tomorrow," He replied coolly, shrugging a shoulder. "Who's the hottie?" Ash's eyes were suddenly back on Marceline, aimed a little too low for her liking. She crossed her arms and glared.

"Girlfriend," Bonnibel replied smoothly. "And if you'll excuse us, we're already late for our dinner reservation."

Ash's mouth worked for a reply, eyes once more on Bonnibel. Marceline wanted to punch him. "You're still a dyke, then?" _Final straw, assbucket._

Marceline balled her hands into fists beside her and glanced down at her friend. Bonnibel gave her a little smile and Marceline knew that that was all the confirmation she needed.

"Think I'll get a natural twenty?" She quipped lightly. Bonnibel's mouth upturned into a half smile (Marceline could've sworn she'd heard Bonnibel call her a dork under her breath) and Ash's pierced brow arched in reply. Marceline decided to go for the nose.

* * *

"What a _dick,_ " Marceline breathed as they got back to Bonnibel's house. Her hand was slightly bruised, and hurt like _hell_ , but she wasn't about to tell Bonnibel that. "You dated him?"

"Sadly," Bonnibel muttered, slipping off her shoes and heading into the living room ahead of Marceline. "He's real charming once you meet him," There was a pause in her speech as she moved all their school work to the coffee table. "Well, only if you're of use to him. Hence why I told him you were my girlfriend."

" _He_ can be charming?" Marceline asked incredulously. "Can pigs fly here, too?"

Bonnibel gave a sad smile and began to set the TV up for the movie, laughing gently when Marceline threw herself down onto the couch. "Ash is…toxic." She spoke carefully, biting her lip in thought. "He's real nice when he wants to be and then he just changes."

"What a dick." Marceline growled. "I should've done more than just break his damn nose, Bonnie."

"You should have," Bonnibel agreed with a surprising smile. "But I'm not going to let you get arrested for assault."

"Fuck the police." Marceline muttered, watching as Bonnibel selected a movie from the TV stand and slide it into the DVD player.

"Tea?" Bonnibel asked absent mindedly, turning to give Marceline a warm smile that made her heart feel _fucking weird_. "We also have coffee, and hot chocolate."

"What kind of tea?" Marceline asked gently, trying desperately to stop her heart from doing what ever it was fucking doing.

"We have green tea, chamomile and just regular tea."

Marceline grinned in reply. "Chamomile, please and thank you." _And something for heartburn? Or chest pains? I have no fucking clue._ Bonnibel smiled sweetly, much to Marceline's dismay, and disappeared into the kitchen. "Want me to set the film up?" Marceline called back to her, grabbing the remote even without a response.

"Yes, please," Bonnibel called back.

She selected the language, only hesitating for a second when she thought about putting the movie on in Italian for the shits and giggles, and skipped past the adverts about pirating and films that came out in the _early_ _1980's_. _How old is this film?_ "Uh, Bonnie? What're we watching?"

"I figured you'd like horror," Bonnibel muttered from behind the couch, surprising Marceline.

"I thought you chose sci-fi?"

"It's _Alien_ , Marceline," Bonnibel rolled her eyes lightly. "I figured we could watch the movies together? And maybe the old Jurassic park films? The others don't appreciate the classics as much as I do."

Marceline hummed lightly, turning her eyes back to the advert she had paused on. "Gotta admit, the nineteen eighties were the prime time for movies." She spoke, rolling her eyes up in thought. "Blade runner," She counted on her fingers. "The Breakfast Club, _The Shining_ , god I love that movie. Hell, didn't Gremlins come out then, too?"

Bonnibel nodded in confirmation. "And E.T, if I remember. Ghostbusters came out…eighty four?"

"Yeah," Marceline nodded, suddenly very happy that she wasn't the only movie nerd. " _Two_ Star Wars movies came out."

"The original Batman movie was released in the eighties." Bonnibel added. "Raiders of the Lost Ark, Beetlejuice,"

"Nightmare on Elm Street." Marceline interrupted like an excited child. "Ooh, and Heathers."

"The Princess Bride was released in eighty seven." Bonnibel smiled, watching as Marceline swivelled round to grin up at her.

"What about Terminator?"

"Same as Ghostbusters," Bonnibel muttered. "Didn't Back to the Future come out in-,"

"Eighty five. Bang in the middle of the prime time." Marceline breathed, suddenly out of breath from the excitement. "Fuck, I love movies."

Bonnibel giggled lightly, making Marceline's heart freak out once more. "Same here," She replied. Marceline peered up at Bonnibel with contentment, smiling and watching as the other girl brushed hair from her face. They both jumped when the kettle went off.

"Tea's ready," Bonnibel sang, darting back off into the kitchen and returning a few minutes later with their drinks. Marceline took hers with another gentle 'thank you' and cradled it against her chest, pressing play on the remote control to start the movie.

A few hours later, when the movie had finished playing and Bonnibel had fallen fast asleep on the other side of the couch, Marceline woke herself up from her sleep and realised that she was definitely late home. So, Marceline took out her phone and sent a very important text, sleep tugging at her eyelids.

 ** _Marceline (9:18):_** _Can I sleep over at Bonnie's?_

Marceline fell asleep before she could wait for the reply from her father, but she already knew what the answer would be anyway.

 ** _Dad (9:23):_** _Of course you can, honey. I'm proud of you for making friends this quickly._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: You guys are going to either love or hate this chapter, no in betweens here today. Also, look out for a bit of a time jump between this chapter & the next; I'm hoping to at least get Marceline's birthday in as chapter seven. Just for funsies. ;D**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Content Warnings: Swearing (are you even surprised any more?), annoyed librarians, Finn being an** ** _idiot_** **for no fucking reason, mentions of: Ash, Drugs, Alcohol. (Or as I've now resulted calling it in my head, ADA).**

* * *

"I can't fucking _believe_ you dated him and not me," Finn practically wailed into his mobile phone, slumping further into his chair as the librarian glared at him. He must've realised that maybe that wasn't the best way to word his opinion on the whole subject, or he'd seen Marceline's disapproving stare, because he suddenly was quick to correct himself. "Not that you _had_ to date me, it's just that-,"

" _Finn, can we just drop the topic?_ " Bonnibel's voice filtered through from the phone. Marceline smirked and continued doodling in the margins of her textbook. " _And it's not like you didn't know, we were all friends with him at that point._ "

" _You_ were friends with him?" Marceline levelled a finger at Finn, eyeing him curiously. "I thought you'd have known better, Mertens."

So, it was her third week at this damn school and she'd started calling everyone by either their last names (if she knew them; Phoebe and Lady hadn't been as vocal with theirs as the two brothers had been) or by stupid ass nick names that Marceline's brain had come up with after an all nighter and some cheep beer. Honestly, Marceline had never been softened down this quickly before. Nor had she had this many friends at any of her old schools. The most she'd ever had, in fact, was when she was forced to attend a fancy private school called Eastbourne Academy and made a total of four friends. _That_ had been socially exhausting. Luckily for Marceline (and Bonnibel, apparently), Finn, Jake and the rest of the group understood when she needed time away from them. Well, anyone that wasn't Bonnie.

Finn, who had flushed a dark red in response to her accusation, finally stopped flailing and managed to come up with an answer for her. Albeit, an immature one. "Obviously not or else I wouldn't be friends with you, _Abadeer_." He even stuck his tongue out at her.

" _Children, stop misbehaving._ " Bonnibel's laughter filled voice lilted in from the phone once more. " _If I get back and you've killed one another I might never forgive you, Finn._ "

The blonde boy flailed some more, hair spilling out over his forehead and into his eyes. Marceline laughed out loudly, knowing that she'd won with Bonnibel on her side. "Check and mate, dickhead." She teased, prodding the boys cheek with her finger. "Your ex crush just sided with me, how does it feel?" Knowing that Finn would glare, Marceline gave him a cheeky grin and went back to doodling.

"Yeah, well." He huffed, keeping his eyes on Marceline in mock threat. "When are you getting here?"

" _My dad literally just pulled up in the parking lot, I'll be there in five._ " Bonnie replied before promptly hanging up, leaving Finn to pout and throw his phone down onto the soft cushioned chair beside him.

"Was that Bonnie?" Marceline glanced up from her textbook, now sporting a tiny pair of boobs on the top left hand corner of page 67, to see Phoebe and Lady entering the library. _Looks like one of us is going to get us kicked out of here,_ Marceline thought as she glanced over at the librarian who was now staring in disbelief at the new guests.

"Yeah," Finn answered, shooting a grin over to them. "We're having a little study session before our surprise English tests. Marceline's idea," He pointed his grin over to Marceline.

"Yeah, great," She drawled, making sure to make her eye roll as extra as possible. "Thanks for telling everyone that I'm officially a nerd now."

Phoebe snorted. "I knew you were a nerd when you started listing off instruments like the sitar, Marceline," She said as she sat down next to Finn. "Don't act like this is a new thing."

Lady took the last spare seat and dumped most of the items in her bag out onto the desk. From behind them, Marceline heard the librarian sigh. "Well, I'm game for a study session. How'd you know we were having a test if it was supposed to be a surprise though?" _Shit. Is this where I tell them I spent last weekend at Bonnibel's place or?_

"I told her," _Speak of the devil._ "We all have a test for English today, so I told her on Saturday so we could revise for it." Bonnibel gave them one of her all too sweet smiles and glanced around the room at the seating arrangements.

"If it's on Hemingway _again_ I'm going to kill myself," Phoebe groaned, throwing her head back. "I've had enough of him and his fucking books."

"Lennon, actually," Bonnibel smiled, laughing at the collective groans from her friends and setting her bag down next to Marceline's chair. "Nothing too extreme, promise. Marceline picked up most of the marks on the mock questions I gave her." And then Marceline found herself with a very pretty girl sat on her knee, smiling proudly down at her and her textbook with the boobs in it and Marceline could not have been any more bisexual if she tried.

Marceline just huffed and blew her cheeks out. _Try to keep the blushing to a minimum, dipshit, people will start to think that you_ like _her or something._ "Yeah," She breathed, trying her hardest to not focus on Bonnibel whatsoever. "It's just two eight markers and a ten marker and they're giving us the entire fifty five minutes to do them, so,"

" _So_ you're a nerd." Phoebe finished for her with a smile. "Bonnie why don't you come sit on my knee? I'm _cold_."

Bonnibel scoffed. _She makes me wanna die, but in a good way._ "Marceline's comfortable," She explained with a shrug, leaning back into Marceline as if to prove her point. All it did was make Marceline's task of trying not to blush even more difficult, and from the looks she was being given by her friends, she had failed. "And we've already revised for the test. You guys haven't. We're only here to supervise and make sure you get the right answers." At that, Finn stopped giving Marceline the _dirtiest look she had ever been given_ and instead opened his notebook.

"Do you have the mock questions?" He mumbled. "Because if not I'll go print them off on the computer," At Bonnibel's guilty look, Finn stood and stalked over to the computer section of the library, muttering something under his breath.

"I don't think I've ever seen Finn jealous," Lady mused as she watched him leave. "The fact that it's over another girl just makes it so much funnier." Marceline arched her brow. "Everyone thinks your dating now," Lady explained. _Wait, they do? What the fuck started that rumour?_ "Apparently Brad heard from one of his older friends and told everyone."

Bonnibel glanced down at Marceline. Apparently they were both thinking the same thing. "Fucking _Ash_ can't keep his mouth shut about anything for more than three days can he?" Bonnibel grouched.

Marceline smirked up at her, prodding her sides teasingly as she sang, "Watch your language, princess," earning her an eye roll and a soft scoff. "Wait, does this mean people have seen his broken nose?"

"Probably," Bonnibel beamed at her. "Brad has, at least, and he can't keep his mouth shut about anything."

Phoebe chuckled lightly. "Evidently, but what's this about Ash having a broken nose? _Please_ tell me you gave me exactly what he deserved,"

"I didn't," Bonnibel said politely. "Marceline did, and she looked completely badass while doing it," _Sheesh, Bonnibel, you know the way to my heart._

"You punched Ash?" Finn asked curiously as he came back from the printer, handing out the sheets to the other girls as he eyed Marceline quizzically. _At least he isn't looking at me like I just kicked his dog._

"Fuck yeah I did," Marceline exclaimed around a grin. "Pretty sure I almost broke a knuckle while doing it, but he went home with a broken nose." She felt a sudden surge of pride in her chest at the smile that Bonnibel was giving her and felt another blush threaten to creep up her neck.

"My hero," Bonnibel sighed half teasingly, rolling her eyes at Finn when he glared at Marceline again. "We're _not_ dating, though. I just told Ash that to get him to lay off."

"All right, yeah," Finn said coolly, leaning back into his chair as he looked at the question in his hands. "So talk to me about this guy and his…journalism?"

* * *

Marceline stepped out of her Tuesday music class with a sigh. Phoebe and Lady had elected on letting her get around the school on her own, resulting in a very lonely walk from Marceline's classes to the willow tree at the back of the school.

When she got to the door, however, she saw that one of the teachers was stopping Phoebe from leaving the cafeteria.

"This is bullshit," The red head grumbled when she saw Marceline approach. "They're not letting us out because it rained last night and they don't want us to get mud on our clothes."

"Where are the others, then?" Marceline muttered, levelling a glare at the back of the teachers head. _Start of October and they're already being assholes about the weather? Fuck off._

Phoebe shrugged. "The library?"

"Knowing Bonnibel," Marceline agreed with a laugh. As they exited the crowded cafeteria, Marceline's phone buzzed in her back pocket and she pulled Phoebe to the side. "It's Jake, says they're in history room four."

"Upstairs," Phoebe nodded. "At least we get a nice view of the willow, I guess." She grumbled, sliding her hands into the pockets of her black hooded jacket. "C'mon,"

When they got to the History room, Marceline knew exactly what Phoebe was talking about. The row of windows at the side of the classroom was looking out directly at their tree and the rest of the fields. Marceline made sure she sat on one of the chairs nearest to one of the windows.

"Are we still on for tonight?" Jake asked over the music coming from Finn's phone, it was jazzy sounding which pleasantly surprised Marceline when she had walked in. At Marceline's arched brow, Jake sighed. "Did _anyone_ remember to ask Marceline if she was coming to Tree Trunks after school?"

All eyes went comically to Bonnibel, whose freckled nose was buried in one of the science textbooks she was always carrying around. She glanced up and shrugged. "It's not always my job to inform Marceline of what we're doing, you know." She muttered, levelling a tired looking glare at Jake. However, before he could say anything else, she turned to Marceline with one of those warm smiles she had given her on Saturday night. "Wanna come with? Jermaine can take us in his car again." She added the last part as if it was a bonus for Marceline, as if having a pretty girl sitting on her knee for a long period of time was what she wanted. Which, yes, she did.

"I'm game." She replied with a grin.

Finn snorted. "Yeah, because that means Bonnibel gets to sit on your knee for fifteen minutes." _Shit the straights are onto me, abort mission_.

Marceline arched a brow, ignoring the fact that her face was considerably warmer. "If I wanted her to sit on me I'd offer my f-," She _didn't_ finish that sentence (thank god) because Bonnibel's hand clamped firmly over her mouth. Phoebe was downright cackling in her seat beside Lady. "It was a _joke_ ," Marceline insisted when Bonnibel finally retracted her hand to glare at her instead. "I'm joking."

Their friends exchanged knowing looks and Finn's glare would've been more effective if his face were a lighter shade of red. "Phoebe can sit on my knee, anyway." He huffed. "We always took turns before."

Marceline nodded. "Sure, dude." _Saved by a straight boy. At least I don't have to worry about how short Bonnibel's skirt is today._ Marceline thought to herself, eyes glancing down at Bonnie's legs. _Should not have done that. Really shouldn't have done that._

"Can I at least have a say in this?" Phoebe asked jokingly. "What if I want to sit on Lady's knee?"

"Then Bonnibel would probably have to still sit on Marceline's knee, which is suddenly very triggering for Finn," Jake laughed, glancing at his brother who was still glaring. "Chill out, bro. Even if Bonnibel was completely straight, I'm one hundred percent sure she'd be dating Brad and not you."

"I don't wanna think about if I was straight," Bonnibel outwardly cringed and closed her book. "And I think we've already lived through the fact that I'd date Ash."

Jake smirked. "He was never like this even when you were dating that scumbag, you know,"

"Yeah," Finn interjected before Jake could say anything else on the topic. "Because Ash is a _guy_ and it's easier when your crush is dating the same gender as you."

"Not dating," Bonnibel cut in, waving a pen in the air. "And what happened to you getting over me?"

"I mean, I don't blame him." Marceline spoke up suddenly, tearing her eyes away from Bonnibel's thighs and giving a shy smile to Bonnibel. "You're kinda _really_ pretty."

"Exactly." Finn agreed.

Bonnibel blushed and went back to annotating her textbook. "Marceline, that's gay," She muttered. "Finn…for the last time I'm _gay_."

Finn slumped back into his chair and huffed. "Yeah, you keep reminding me."

* * *

So, the car ride wasn't as exciting as Marceline wanted it to be; Finn sat and sulked in the back even _with_ Phoebe sat on his knee, and Jake and Lady had decided to be extra couple-y and annoyed everyone with their sappy nicknames to the point where Jermaine threatened to throw them out the car if they didn't stop. Bonnibel was wedged in the middle of the four of them, with Marceline riding shotgun much to her dismay.

Jermaine barely said anything the entire journey to the diner, resulting in a thick air of awkward silence to blanket over the car the entire twenty minutes they were in there for.

"Wait," Jake perked up from the back, lifting his head up off the window. "Marceline, how old are you?"

Marceline swallowed thickly and shrugged. "Seventeen," She muttered. "So I got kept behind a year, so what?"

"No- That's not, That's not what I meant," Jake said through a half laugh. "Can you drive?"

"I have my license, if that's what you mean. No car though." She replied, watching as he slumped back in his seat with a sigh. "Might be getting one for my birthday, who knows."

"If you do, can you _please_ drive me to school next year?" Bonnibel's voice surprisingly chimed. "My dad's finding it stressful because he got promoted recently and he'd probably pay you for it,"

"Getting paid to be in a car with you for ten minutes?" Marceline asked teasingly. _Careful, idiot, don't say anything flirty._ "I don't know, Banner, there'd have to be something else in it for me to help me decide." She added slyly, smirking and glancing at Bonnibel over her shoulder.

"What could possibly be better than getting money?" Bonnibel gasped.

"Sex." Jake answered for her, earning a light slap from Lady. "Alright, sheesh, uh I guess you could give her a lapdance?" Another slap and suddenly Marceline was very glad the others couldn't see how red she was. "Look, Obviously I'm not good at this so someone else can just jump in whenever,"

"Pay her in advance," Phoebe offered. "Or maybe Marceline _does_ want sex and that's why she hasn't said anything."

Marceline scoffed, trying her best to fight the raging blush on her cheeks. "I'm good, thanks. Sure I'll drive you to school."

"Thank you," Bonnibel said gently. "I really appreciate it _and,_ " She leaned forward so that her face was right next Marceline's. "If you do want something all you need to do is ask." She added quietly, smiling when Marceline choked in response. _Real smooth, shit for brains._

"Marceline's getting laid," Jake cheered. "I helped."

Marceline glared at him over her shoulder. "Shut it, asshole."

"We're here." Jermaine spoke up. "Everyone out." _Geez, dude, at least be polite about it._

To be fair, as soon as Marceline stepped out of the car she understood why Jermaine wanted to drive out of the car park as soon as possible; it was packed with cars and people dropping off others. _This place really does get crowded after school, huh?_

"C'mon," Jake guided them to the double doors. "There's usually a reserved table in the corner for us." _Why the fuck?_ "Thank Bonnibel being related to Terry for that."

Lo and behold, as soon as they walked in to the diner there was one table in the back corner completely devoid of students and anyone else. Marceline smirked. "And no one gets upset over this?"

"They used to," Jake explained, sliding into the booth after Lady. Marceline found herself sat across from Bonnibel and in next to Phoebe. "Ash made a massive scene about it all and since then no one has really bothered us. We have to use it by a certain time, though, otherwise it's no fair."

Marceline nodded in understanding and took the menu offered to her by Lady. She glanced up when she felt a soft kick to her shin and saw Bonnibel smiling at her.

"Wanna share a milkshake?" She offered quietly. "We can get a large between us and it'll work out cheaper." At Marceline's nod, Bonnibel took note of everyone's drink orders and danced off to order them for the table. _Jesus christ I think I wanna marry her._

Marceline blinked. Where had that thought come from? _I do not want to marry Bonnibel. That's fucking insane. What the fuck is wrong with me?_ Marceline shook her head to get rid of any thoughts she might possibly come up with of Bonnibel and her being _married_ and instead reread the menu several times.

"You guys know what you want yet?" Bonnibel asked, settling the drinks downs once she had returned. From the looks of things, it was only her and Bonnibel sharing a milkshake. _I'd like a steak with a side fries and you for desert,_ Marceline thought unconsiously.

"Steak and fries," She croaked out through a suddenly very dry throat. "Medium rare, please and thank you."

"I'll just have my usual, thanks," Jake muttered. "Lady too."

His girlfriend rolled her eyes. "I can order myself, thanks." She said jokingly. "But yeah, just my usual."

"Me and Finn are skipping straight to dessert," Phoebe sang. "Two sundae's, for us."

And Bonnibel was dancing off back to the counter once more. Marceline watched the whole ordeal with her head in the palm of her hand, smiling when Bonnibel turned and skipped back to them. _Something_ had definitely made her very happy.

Bonnibel rested the drinks down and seated herself once more, immediately sipping their drink through one of the straws. "It's strawberry," She mumbled around the straw, smiling at Marceline. "I remember you telling me on Sunday your favourite flavour of anything was Strawberry."

From beside Marceline, Phoebe cleared her throat. "Didn't realize you two hung out on Sunday, why weren't we invited?" She asked jokingly, yet the curiosity as to why Bonnibel and Marceline were together was still there. The look on Bonnibel's face was a defeated one.

"We fell asleep watching a movie and Marceline ended up staying the night," Bonnie replied with a shrug. "It wasn't planned so we just watched the rest of the _Alien_ movies on Sunday."

"Yeah, her couch is comfier than my bed," Marceline joked, leaning forwards to take her straw into her mouth and take a sip. _I really need to know what Terry does to make these so good. Virgin sacrifices maybe?_

"You're gonna get brain freeze," Lady warned, watching as Marceline absent mindedly sipped her drink. "Bonnie, tell your girlfriend that she's gonna get brain freeze,"

Ignoring the girlfriend comment with an eye roll, Bonnibel kicked Marceline's shin as hard as she could.

" _Shit, alright,_ oh my god," Marceline hissed. "No need to cripple me. If this _were_ a relationship, this'd be abusive as fuck."

Bonnibel giggled. "If this were a relationship," She repeated with a small smile. "This would technically be a date, but our first date would have to be the start of the Christmas holidays in two months because I _asked_ you to be my date." _Oh shit, yeah, I agreed to be her date. Fuck._

"So… _this_ is our second date even though we've not been on our first date yet?" Marceline quirked her brow upwards in thought, smirking when Bonnibel shook her head in disbelief.

"This isn't a date," She insisted, cheeks flushing pink to match her hair. "We're just here together with our friends who all happen to be on a date." At that, Phoebe's brow raised and she glanced over at Finn.

" _Date_?"

"No!" Finn declared around his blush. "Bonnie's making stuff up. What's this about you guys dating for the Christmas holidays?" _Always quick to change the subject. Real smooth, Finn._

"She's my date for the already preplanned Christmas date." Bonnibel hissed back at him as if they were having a private conversation away from the rest of the group. Marceline just found it all very amusing.

"That's cute," Lady added to the conversation wistfully, smiling down the table at Marceline as if she was about to impart some wisdom onto her. All she did was suggestively wiggle her eyebrows at her while Finn and Bonnibel argued until their food arrived.

Jake, who had luckily stayed out of this exchange, glanced down the table at Bonnibel. "What happened to not liking the burgers here?" He joked, all too amused by the sight of the huge burger in front of such a dainty girl. Marceline and the rest of the table had already started to dig into their food, while Bonnibel seemed to be having a tough time deciding how she was going to pick the huge thing in front of her up without dropping it.

"What happened to you saying that you didn't find Lady attractive two years ago?" Bonnibel countered with a shrug. Jake's mouth fell open in reply. "That's what I thought."

Lady was very quick to jump into that particular part of the conversation. "You didn't find me attractive?"

"To put this whole situation into context," Jake began, mouth twisting in thought. "Bonnibel had just come out to us that she was gay and I thought she was asking me if I thought you were pretty because _she_ thought you were pretty. I was just…trying my hardest to defend you."

"Okay, that's kind of sweet." Lady said, leaning forwards to kiss Jake on the cheek. "I can't believe you dated Ash two years ago. I feel gross for you," Lady grimaced at the thought, and to be fair Marceline internally vomited at the thought of _Bonnibel_ with _Ash_ and she barely knew the guy. "You need a girlfriend, Bonnie. Two years without romance has turned you into a bitter old lady."

At that, Bonnibel glowered at Marceline over their shared milkshake and stopped drinking to turn her glare towards Lady. "Not bitter. And I've had plenty of dates with girls, not my fault this place is devoid of all gays and no one is good enough to date me."

Marceline snorted. "This is why you should do what I did and get a partner that you never even see, works wonders."

Bonnibel's face dropped and Marceline realised that she had never brought up Marshall. "You…have a girlfriend?"

"Boyfriend," Marceline clarified. "Met him at the second school I moved to. He was two years ahead of me and we barely even see each other." At Bonnibel's small ' _oh_ ,' and the slightly angry look Finn was giving her, Marceline very quickly began to list off everything bad about her and Marshall's relationship. "He's literally just a nineteen year old stoner who barely remembers my birthday and I'm honestly only with him so that my dad can stop pestering me about 'meeting a man' and 'settling down'. Uh, also, I tried breaking up with him once but I was _really_ high and he was a little drunk and I think I ended up calling him an egg and I started crying on him. I honestly see him more as a brother and-," Bonnibel's laugh cut her off.

"I don't care if you're dating someone, Marceline," Bonnibel said, taking Marceline's _hand_ in her _own_ and _squeezing it_. "You could've told me before I scheduled the Christmas date."

 _Shit now she thinks I don't wanna be her date. Fuuuuuck_ , _do something_. "No! I wanna date you!" _That could've come out so much better than it did._

Bonnibel's cheeks flooded with colour yet again. "You're sure about that?" She squeaked adorably, making Marceline's heart melt.

"I need to…like, you know, break up with Marshall first." Literally the entire table rolled their eyes at her lame excuse. "But I'm looking forward to our Christmas date, and then hopefully others?"

Bonnibel's hand squeezed hers once more as she grinned. "Absolutely, and you really don't have to break up with Marshall immediately. Our date is in two months, after all."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I have a fun game for you to play while reading this chapter. Everytime you think my mood changed whilst I was writing this, I want you to go to my twitter ( necromarcy) or my tumblr (archaicabadeer) and send me a message.**

 **I may or may not have delved into my soul to conjure up a little bit of character arc for Finn + Phoebe & also others in later chapters, wink wonk, nothing too major though dw. **

**Also, they** **'re gonna become canon I can feel it deep within my bones.**

 **(Content Warnings: Alcohol, drunk!Marceline, asexual awareness!, birthday presents that aren't actually birthday presents, Finn's hair is green at the very end of this chapter it's not exactly relevant but I forgot while I wrote about him lmao.)**

* * *

 **October 31** **st** **2016**

Marceline shrunk away from the cold rain and harsh wind, pressing herself up against the wall of the seemingly empty school building (she was there for an impromptu study group with the rest of the group, all of whom had been at Jakes house for 'birthday gift purposes'. That part made Marceline want to pull out her own eyelashes; she'd never asked for a present, nor had she planned on getting them any in return). The phone in her hand buzzed and with numb fingers she unlocked it and hid it away from the elements, shivering as she read the text over just once.

 ** _Jake (11:04):_** _we can see u_

Marceline downright glared, whipping her head up from the warmth of her chest to search the area. Jermaine's car was pulling up near the entrance to the parking lot. She could just make out Finn waving at her from the inside of the probably nicely heated car and decided to flip him off as they began to pile out.

The first thing that Marceline heard that wasn't the rain hitting the pavement was, "You _idiot_ ," from Bonnibel as she charged out of the vehicle with a purple umbrella and a stern look plastered across her face. _How can one still look so damn cute when angry?_ Marceline mused to herself, allowing a smile to pull up the corners of her mouth. Bonnibel stormed towards her, finger outstretched as she glared. "I did tell you that it was raining, that you should have worn a hoodie like you have done every other day of the damn month." That _was_ true, Bonnibel had sent her a series of texts (more like a list) of things that consisted of items that she should bring and wear (read: an umbrella and a jacket, preferably one with a hood). "And what do you wear? A t-shirt?" Bonnibel's accusing finger was now pressed rather firmly against Marceline's collar, but the older girl simply thought Bonnibel looked utterly adorable with a little grouchy face and her fringe plastered to her forehead from the rain, which crumpled even further into a look of frustration and anguish. "Stop _smirking_ at me like that, you smug little-,"

"Happy birthday!" Jake bellowed around a laugh, clapping a hand down on Marceline's shoulder before slipping it back into the pocket of his brown hoodie. Lady and Phoebe were also laughing at the whole scene unfolding in front of them as they slowly made their way towards the building. They too seemed unfazed by the cold weather. "Sorry about her," He jabbed a thumb over at Bonnibel, who was still glaring in that cute little way that made Marceline's heart want to throw itself off a cliff. "I believe this is how she shows she's worried." The others rolled their eyes collectively.

Marceline's amused smile widened and she turned back to Bonnibel. "Awe, Bon, worried about me now?"

"When you catch a cold, and I _know_ you will, I want you to text me so I can say I told you so and laugh," Bonnibel muttered around red cheeks. She dug around in her pocket for a little key card that looked like it should belong to one of the staff members at school. _Neat, I need to get me one of those things._ "Also, I'll come round with movies and make you hot chocolate. So, please text me if you get ill."

Marceline felt her smile waver in a _good_ way, threaten to go up further and let the blush crawling up her neck make its home in her cheeks. Instead, she did the latter of the two and scoffed, which didn't seem like the best combination as Phoebe arched her brow and muttered something to Lady. "Right yeah, laugh at me and then baby me. Just what I want in a girl." Marceline bit her tongue to keep herself from saying _girlfriend_ ;she still had to break up with Marshall, and then actually ask _Bonnibel_ to _go out with her_.

"Can we go inside now?" Phoebe asked before either of them could say anything else. "I'm freezing my fucking tits off and you two flirting with each other isn't really helping, no matter how much it gets you two all hot and bothered."

 _And there goes my brain, straight into the gutter._ Marceline's face darkened in colour and she allowed Bonnibel to step around her to open the double doors with the before mentioned key card. Bonnie's face followed suit.

"What have you got planned for us tonight, Marce?" Finn asked as they followed Bonnibel through the empty reception. There was an uncomfortable sound of wet socks in shoes coming from somewhere, but Marceline chose to ignore the noise completely and instead focussed on the fact that she was at school on her birthday. Being at school on a holiday to _work_ felt wrong to Marceline; usually she broke in to pull a harmless (most of the time) prank on one of the staff members, never once had she actually gone in with reason and an all clear from the head.

"Movies," Marceline began listing off on one hand before she forgot to answer. "Alcohol, bad choices and a mix of board games that daddy dearest has collected over the years." Bonnibel opened the next set of doors and they all filtered into the main hallway of the school building.

"Dungeons and dragons?" Bonnibel pondered absent mindedly, leading them through the empty school halls.

"Maybe, depends if you guys know how to play," Marceline replied with a smirk before leaning closer to whisper in the younger girls ear. "How'd you know I play DnD?"

"When you punched Ash you asked if you'd get a natural twenty." Bonnibel giggled. "Which you totally did, by the way. Who's our dungeon master?"

"Me, duh." Marceline muttered back with a roll of her eyes. "I love playing and all but I kind of set up a really short two hour campaign just for tonight and I love setting the scene, you guys still get to choose your characters though."

Bonnibel smirked. "Dork." They all halted in front of the library, Finn explaining something to Lady who didn't really look as if she was buying it. Marceline was only half listening, anyway.

"I can't believe you're a dungeon master," Lady laughed, collapsing onto one of the cushioned chairs and sighing. As if on command everyone began peeling their wet jackets off and threw them into a pile. "Bonnibel _loves_ dungeon masters, once when she was drunk she told me she wanted to f-," Bonnibel gave her the good old hand over the mouth and shushed her.

"The key point in that sentence is the fact that I was drunk." Bonnibel scolded. "And I'm one hundred percent sure that you were too and I was straight at that point, so everything that happened that night means squat anyway."

"Fair point," Lady gave in fairly easily, peeling off her own wet coat and throwing it down on the ground carelessly. "Everything straight Bonnie did means nothing. Straight you dated Ash and flirted with Brad, it was a bad time for _everyone_ involved." Everyone but Marceline laughed, as a group of friends did when they had plenty of inside jokes with each other, and Finn turned to speak to Lady.

"We all talk about Bonnie dating Ash was the absolute worst, which it obviously is now," Everyone agreed, and Marceline was glad that she could voice her opinion on the piece of garbage human being that Ash was. "But at the time we all loved their relationship."

"I didn't know you guys back then," Phoebe pointed out with a wave of her pen. _Oh yeah,_ Marceline remembered, _we're supposed to be studying_. "However, I _did_ know Brad and he's friends with Ash so I know that they were the power couple of the school."

"Can _someone_ please tell me what Brad is like?" Marceline pleaded midway through getting her notebooks out of her bag. Honestly, if this guy had a crush on her crush, then she needed to know who she was going to gloat to.

"Brad Simmons," Jake stated as if just a name would make it painfully obvious who this Brad fellow was. "Main hitter for the schools baseball team, currently dating Ellen Sarah-Peterson," There were a few groans from around the table, to which Marceline arched a brow at. "Kind of douchey but like, never to minorities so he's neutral in our books. Oh, his mum used to be married to the principle but they got divorced so he's a real daddy's boy when he wants to be."

"Holy shit," Marceline muttered. _Maybe it wouldn't be bad to befriend this guy, seems like he could get me out of some shit if I got on his good side._

"I know that look, Abadeer." Phoebe warned half jokingly. "Don't get friendly with him. I did that a few years back and I still haven't shook him off entirely."

Jake's brow quirked upwards. "Weren't you supposed to be ditching him last week, and the week before that, and last month?"

"I _tried_ ," The red head grouched, doubling over in her chair. "He wants me to go to his aunts birthday with him next week and I can't just decline because he's not done anything bad yet."

"Yet," Lady murmured before a sly smirk crossed her features. "How's the prom planning going by the way? From what I've heard Ellen wants to do a masquerade."

Phoebe groaned. "Shut _up._ You all agreed we wouldn't talk about my connections with those assholes."

"Masquerade?" Marceline hummed to herself, smiling as she watched Phoebe throw her textbook at Jake's head when he said something else Brad and this Ellen girl. "So are we going as a club then?" She interrupted the small fight between Phoebe and the couple, both now frozen in a comical way.

Lady lowered her hand and pocketed her pen, composing herself before speaking. "Depends on what Bonnibel wants to do, really. She _is_ supposed to be the club leader."

The group looked over at Bonnibel, who had been helping Finn with his maths work while all this had been going on. Marceline rolled her eyes.

"Even if we don't decide to go as a club then there's still the option to go individually," Lady continued. "Jake and I are going anyway, Phoebe turned down Finn's offer so I have _no_ clue who they're going with." _Wow, Phoebe, harsh._ "Bonnibel will probably ask you and you'll probably say yes." Lady predicted, throwing a little wink in there to just make sure Marceline caught exactly what she meant.

"I'm not exactly the prom type," Marceline defended with a grin. "I mean you wouldn't catch me dead in a dress,"

"Wear a suit, then." Bonnibel perked up, nose now buried in her own textbook. "Phoebe is, and I wore a tux last year." _Bonnibel in a tux? Holy cow I wish I was there to see that._

Marceline shrugged and leaned back in her chair to get a good look at Bonnibel. _Yeah, okay, Bonnibel in anything would look great. Gotta see her in a dress, though._ "I'll go if you go," She threw in a wink, idea courtesy of Lady, and grinned widely.

"Asking me to prom, Abadeer?" Bonnibel asked cheekily, grinning too. "Sure, make sure you wear a pink tie, though. I already bought my dress and it'd be pretty embarrassing if we weren't matching."

Marceline huffed; she didn't look good in pink, and gave her friend a strong pout. "Can't I just not wear the tie?" At Bonnibel's eye roll, Marceline sighed. "Guess I'm wearing a tie then."

* * *

Truthfully, Marceline had started drinking as soon as she got home from the study group at three. She didn't really see the problem with it; her friends would be there at six, which gave her a three hour gap to do what she wanted and prepare for more social interaction.

She wasn't really expecting to nearly fall over when she opened the door for her friends though.

"Beer and stuff is in the kitchen," Marceline jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, smirking when Finn gave a small cheer and followed her directions. "Movies are strictly eighties only and if you complain then you can leave right now and never talk to me again." She eyed Bonnibel with a smile, pleased to note that the girl was wearing shorts again and also had a pleasant little smile on her face at the sound of movies. "Questions?"

"Do you have any other pair of jeans?" Lady joked. "I swear, you only have one pair of black skinny jeans and that's it."

"I have many pairs of the same jeans." Marceline answered seriously, arching her brow. It was proving difficult to pretend to be sober. She took a sip of her beer and then remembered suddenly that none of her friends had been to her house yet. _Fuck, no wonder they're standing around like cocks._ "Living room's just down the hall, first door on your left." Marceline stood to the side to allow for Jake and Bonnibel to make their way into the lounge, leaving Phoebe and Lady to stare at her expectantly. _Fuck, what'd I miss?_

"Can I use your bathroom?" Phoebe muttered under her breath, eyeing the stairs to the right of them. "Jake wouldn't let me pee at their house, which fucking sucked."

"Uh, yeah," Marceline replied. "I think I left the door open so it should be obvious I guess? Second on your left, anyway." Phoebe grinned and thanked her, rushing up stairs like a child deprived of sweets, leaving Lady to stand and smile.

"On a scale of tipsy to black out, how drunk are you?" She asked, leaving Marceline to flounder in surprise.

"How'd you guess?" Marceline mumbled, deflating ever so slightly. "And to answer, probably only a little more than tipsy. Like, I'll remember everything." She answered truthfully, glancing down at her beer with a pout.

Lady's smile turned into a smirk. "You smell of booze, Abadeer. I may only drink when I'm with Jake and the gang, but I sure as hell know what alcohol smells like." She slunk off into the living room to go chat with her boyfriend and Marceline found that her can was empty.

She also found Finn in the kitchen, propped up against the island and frowning at his phone in his hand, an unopened can in the other.

"What's up?" Marceline asked quietly as to not startle him. Finn glanced at her and gave a rather boyish smile in response, pocketing his mobile and shrugging as if he hadn't just been sulking in the corner.

"Girl problems," He said finally. _Damn, me too._ "My brother and I are going to a family get together next week and my mum's expecting us to bring a date. Which is fine for my brother," Finn trailed off and glanced to the floor.

"But Phoebe shot you down and now things are awkward?" Marceline finished his sentence, grabbing one of the two bottles of vodka from the counter. At Finn's nod, she sighed and gave him an awkward pat on the back. _Straight people are so weird._ "Bring a friend or something. Have you asked Bonnibel?"

Finn's face matched the colour of his shirt. " _No_." He ground out. Marceline retracted her hand. "I- I really like Phoebe," Finn confessed through a mumble, glancing up into Marceline's eyes. _Oh shit he thinks we're close enough to have this talk? Fuck._ "Like, way more than Bonnie, so you don't have to worry."

"Hey," Marceline elbowed his side, blushing all the same at Finn's knowing smile. "Shut up about that. I'm not even single, how fucked up are our situations?"

"You still haven't broken up with Marshall yet?" Finn asked. "But- but it's _Bonnie_. She's better than any random stoner guy you'll ever meet,"

Marceline's drunk ass sighed and laughed. "Bonnibel is like, _so_ much better than Marshall. Shit, man, she's like so god damn pretty and- have you seen her freckles?" Finn's eyebrows shot up and Marceline cleared her throat. "Yeah, anyway, I sent him several texts over the past week and he's not replied to me yet." Then, remembering that they had company in the other room. "Oh, alcohol and party games." She shook the vodka and grinned at Finn, now seemingly less depressed than before. _That went slightly better than anticipated._

"We're playing this properly," She called immediately as soon as she and Finn entered the living room with the alcohol. "We all have a cup full of vodka, and some beer for when you wanna drink for the sake of drinking, and you drink when you've done something. Understood?"

"We're all going to be so pissed by the end of this I can tell," Jake said through laughter, taking a cup from Marceline and a can from his brother. "Any rules or forfeits?"

"If you finish your drink first you have to kiss someone," From the corner of her eye, she saw Bonnibel glance at her. "Shall we begin with Finn?"

Finn's eyes rolled up in thought as he stuck his tongue out in thought, as he always did when he was thinking, and Marceline noted the fact that he had still seated himself next to Phoebe even after being rejected by her. _A brave man._ "Never have I ever drunkenly gushed over someone who was in the room next to me."

"Yeah, very fucking specific Mertens," Marceline rolled her eyes. "Pick on the already slightly intoxicated girl. Good on you." She took a sip from her cup and resisted with all her might not to cough as it burned the back of her throat. She was glad to note that the joke went well over everyone else's heads, although Bonnie's cheeks were coloured pink. "Fuck, uh, never have I ever walked in on my parents having sex."

Marceline downright guffawed at the look on Bonnibel's face at the very thought of even walking in on them, earning an elbow to the ribcage and a yell of 'karma's a bitch' from Finn. Everyone but Bonnibel and herself drank, and Marceline glanced at Bonnie from the corner of her eye just to really _appreciate_ her.

"Never have I ever been musically inclined," Bonnibel muttered around the can of beer in her hand, half glaring at Marceline and half rolling her eyes, though the smirk on her lips told Marceline that she wasn't actually annoyed.

"You're just trying to get me drunk, Butler." Marceline sang, sipping her drink once more. The alcohol made her brain a whole lot more gay, focussing on the upturn of Bonnie's mouth rather than the words that were actually coming out of it.

"I just think she wants you to lose," Lady laughed from up on the sofa. "Never have I ever been dating someone just for the sake of dating them."

Marceline's eyes narrowed as she took yet another sip. Bonnibel drank too, glaring over at her friend. "Straight Bonnibel hates you right now, I hope you know that."

"Straight Bonnie doesn't exist," Marceline reminded her, prodding her friend's cheek with a sly smirk. "Far too gay and pretty to be straight. No thank you, continue with being homosexual." _Holy fucking shit I hate myself when I'm drunk. Stop rambling you intoxicated fuck._

"Never have I ever said something stupid in front of my crush while drunk." _Oh so now Jake's attacking me now? Fuck you Jake, you asshole._ Luckily for her pride, Marceline wasn't the only person who drank to that. In fact, Jake was the only person who didn't drink.

 _Phoebe's turn. Go get 'em man killer._ Marceline glanced over at the red head, smirking immediately when she saw that Finn was smiling at her. _What a dork_.

"Never have I ever been sexually attracted to someone," Phoebe mumbled. Marceline's throat closed over and she immediately looked over to Finn for his reaction. He was still smiling, luckily, albeit a little more sadly. _Fuck okay, time to save the day_.

"One of my old friends was asexual." She blurted. Phoebe glanced up at her with a frown. _Obviously she hasn't heard of that. Fucking shitty education system._ "Uh, yeah. She was always romantically inclined to people but just… didn't have a sex drive. Confused her for a while, but her boyfriend understood." She shot a quick glance to Finn. "You're not broken, you know that right? My friend really hated herself for a while and just… it broke my heart to see her like that." Beside her, Bonnibel's hand found hers and squeezed ever so gently. "Don't hate yourself, Phoebes."

Phoebe smiled sadly. "I don't hate myself, don't worry about that. I guess I'm just frustrated because I can't-,"

"Don't be," Marceline cut in. "Just because you don't want to have sex, or you just don't feel comfortable having sex, that doesn't mean you can't have meaningful relationships. There's a lot of ways people can form intimate relationships _without_ sex. You're asexual, right? Doesn't mean you're not heteroromantic."

Phoebe arched her brow. "Not what?"

"Heteroromantic," Marceline repeated herself, more than happy to educate her friend. "You still have romantic feelings towards the opposite gender, just not sexual feelings." And then her drunk ass decided to overshare. "I've always internally labelled myself as bi but honestly I'm more homosexual and biromantic. Guys are cute until they're waving their dicks in your face," She chuckled.

Phoebe's face crumpled into disgust. "Yeah, no thanks. I'm hetero… whatever it is you said. Thanks, it sort of makes more sense now."

"Glad to help." Marceline grinned, hand tightening around Bonnibel's when she felt the other girls grip loosen. "We should continue with the game, it's Finns turn, anyway."

"Never have I ever eaten pussy," He said it like a fucking twelve year old, too. _Note to self, don't give Finn vodka unless you plan on throwing him down some stairs._ "C'mon, Bonnie, you big lesbian."

"I've never even properly kissed a girl, Finn." Bonnibel reminded him with an eye roll. "The last time I ever even got close was when Marceline kissed me the first time we hung out as a group at Lady's house." Marceline's heart thudded hard against her ribcage at the thought of being Bonnie's last 'not quite a kiss'. She could feel herself suddenly get very giddy. _I could really run around the fucking house right now. Or just, go punch Ash again… or kiss Bonnie's freckles. I wonder if she has them on her stomach, or on her knees? Gosh that'd be cute. Lil' freckles all over her body. I wanna kiss all of them. Every single one. Even the ones on her wrists and her hands and on the bridge of her nose._

Marceline sighed heavily. "What?"

"It's your turn," Jake reminded her. "You've been _gawking_ at Bonnibel for at least two minutes now."

"Oh, right," Marceline cleared her throat and took a sip of her beer, noting that she and Bonnibel had a good mouthful of alcohol left in their cups. "Never have I ever… uh, looked utterly _adorabl_ e while uhm, sat on my floor?" There was a mutter of 'oh my god she's so drunk' from either Phoebe or Lady, and Bonnibel seemed amused at the sight of drunk Marceline struggling to get out a sentence that _definitely wasn't about Bonnie no sir why would it be about her?_

"I lose." Bonnibel scowled. "Do I _really_ have to kiss someone?"

Marceline pouted at the floor, though her brain was yelling that _holy shit no you don't have to kiss anyone you little bean. My drunk ass just literally cannot handle anything right now so just please understand._ "I mean, you can kiss me but not _now._ " Marceline began, and to her horror she realised that the drunk rambling really had begun. "Like, I mean, I am _drunk as all fuck_ so I completely understand. But also, sober Marceline is lovely and really gay and would like to kiss you," _Shut the fuck up._ "Don't kiss me like now, but kiss me when you're ready, yeah? Consent is real nice. From you I mean, you could genuinely punch me across the face and I'd be honoured. Like, if you chose to kiss me I'd be three hundred percent okay with it. I just meant that- your consent is needed. And yeah, I'm shutting the fuck up now."

And to her pleasant surprise, Bonnibel leaned over and kissed her cheek with a grin. "Thank you, dork."

* * *

Marceline sipped her coffee with a frown, the headache coming to a gentle throb in the back on her mind, a real difference from the piercing ache that she experienced from the moment she woke up.

After the game of Never Have I Ever, Lady suggested that they play Truth or Dare and Marceline calmed and even sobered up a little bit during that game, resulting in multiple apologies for getting drunk in the first place. Bonnibel stayed her cute little self throughout the entire game and Marceline continued to pine over her like a fucking idiot.

Truth or Dare resulted in Finn dying his hair a temporary dark green and that then prompted them to go out and buy cheap last minute Halloween costumes to go out trick or treating while the night was still young.

Marceline went for her go to classic vampire look, probably going a little too overboard with the fake blood and even bought a cape to drape over a black shirt and ripped skinny jeans. Jake went with a cheap looking werewolf mask and Marceline allowed him to rip up one of her old shirts that didn't fit her any more, laughing when he came out with it unbuttoned and torn to shreds. Lady and Phoebe chose to go with a couples costume (seeing as Finn bought a children's knight outfit that surprisingly fit and Jake went with his own outfit), and in the end went with salt and pepper shakers. To be fair, they were most expensive looking outfits out of the lot of them. Bonnibel instead raided Marceline's wardrobe (an excuse to steal her clothes, Jake had said) and came out wearing a flannel shirt and a beanie, deeming herself a 'living, breathing stereotype' to which Marceline snorted and threw her arm around her, asking if she could drink her blood.

As soon as they finished up with trick or treating they partook in other activities until Marceline was far too tired to do much else, and then they put on Ghostbusters during the wee hours of the morning. Marceline fell asleep with her arm around Bonnie's waist and Lady managed to take a sneaky picture of them before passing out from exhaustion.

The coffee in her hand was black, as she liked it when she was hungover, and the others were all worryingly trying to find their presents for her.

Marceline thought about what she was going to get them for their birthdays, for _Christmas_ even, and pondered on each of their gifts. She knew she'd have to get Lady and Jake's presents together, as they always were, and Finn's would have to be something at least a little bit cool. Phoebe would probably want a new leather jacket or maybe Marceline could score her some tickets to a good concert.

"You can come in now, Marcy!" _Bonnie would want something nerdy, totally,_ Marceline thought to herself. _Maybe some new test tubes or a microscope? How much do those even cost?_

As soon as Marceline stepped foot into her living room, she could sense a theme of the gifts that she had received. In Finn's hands was an oboe, where he'd gotten it from Marceline would have to ask him about later, but it was there none the less. Jake was holding a tambourine of all things, and Lady had a triangle. _I'm so fucking done already_. She glanced over at Phoebe to find that thankfully she was holding what looked to be some folded clothes, _black of course,_ and then to Bonnie to see her empty handed but stood in front of something a little too large for Marceline's liking. _I swear to god, if she has spent any more than twenty pounds on me I'm getting a new crush._

"Did you all start a group chat or something?" Marceline muttered into her cup. Jake started laughing immediately, god was he easy to joke around with, and Phoebe even found it a little hard not laugh a bit. "Finn I'm not even going to ask anything other than _what the fuck_ why an oboe?"

Finn shrugged and held it out to her, grinning his toothy smile. "Looked exotic." _Second note to self, show Finn an ocarina._ "Can you play it?"

"Yes, duh, I knew how to play the flute when I was in the _womb_ you dolt." And just to prove her point, she tuned the damn thing and then played a pretty catchy tune on the instrument. "You two are assholes, and I think you know you are," She muttered when she turned to the couple next to Finn.

Lady handed her the triangle. "I stole it from a music class I had a few years ago," She confessed. "I figured you'd have more fun with it than me," And then Jake shoved the tambourine on top with a goofy grin on his face.

"This is also stolen. Make good use of it," _Fucking asshats._

Marceline turned back to Finn, who was now suddenly smiling sheepishly. "Oboes cost far too much money to buy, Finn. You stole this, huh?"

"It looked fucking hilarious, of course I stole it." Finn defended. "I was so popular for ages because I stole that thing."

Marceline ignored Finn and turned to Phoebe, who was now suddenly her second favourite person in the room. "Alright, Phoebe, looks like you raided hot topic, what gives?

"I might've done just that, actually." Phoebe replied. "In my defence, I was out a few weeks ago with my family and saw you go in. You shop there, don't lie."

Marceline blushed and grabbed the two items of clothing in her friends hand. "Shut it," _Oh cool, a slipknot shirt. And some skinny jeans, wonder who told her to get me some more of them._ "Wait these are super skinny, who told you to get-?" Marceline was half expecting Phoebe to be looking at Lady, but instead she was grinning at a guilty looking Bonnibel. _Oh._ "I don't have an ass, Butler. I hope you're aware." Bonnibel opened her mouth to argue, but probably realised that that wasn't the best idea on earth and shut it again. Marceline smirked at her.

"My present isn't really… it's a guitar, but before you say anything I didn't buy it or anything. My dad used to play guitar a lot but doesn't any more and I asked if I could give it to you and- yeah, it's an acoustic one." Bonnibel breathed out all in one.

"I actually don't have an acoustic guitar any more," Marceline pointed out, moving around Bonnibel to get a better look at it. "I had to get rid of one for the move so I sold my old acoustic, which sucked ass but this is honestly perfect right now. At least it's not stolen contraband." She threw over her shoulder.

"Was that a pun?" Jake threw back.

Marceline breathed in deeply and took a look around the room. Yeah, this was going to be a birthday to remember.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: very quick note today, I made a spotify playlist (titled educational) for this fanfic over on my account Floralprince. Just songs I associate/listened to while writing Educational. Some of them are more character/chapter specific.**

 **Enjoy!**

 ** _Content Warnings: swearing, ash, drug mention, confessions!, a buttload of foreshadowing, gay stuff, hetero stuff & a good dose of marshall finally being a character with development so I can add him in the tags! god!_**

* * *

 _Marceline pressed her lips against Bonnibel's neck, smirking in pride when she felt heat gather there not two seconds later. She wound her hands around Bonnie's waist, finger tips gliding over exposed skin where the fabric of Marceline's stolen hoodie had ridden up._

 _She glanced up at the mirror in front of them, smirking when she saw the warm fuzzy smile on her girlfriends face, and turned her around so that she could kiss her properly._

 _"I love you," Bonnibel smiled through the words, against Marceline's half tilted mouth. Marceline whispered those words back, hoarsely, as Bonnie pulled away with a lilted giggle and a blinding, crinkle-eyed smile, similar to those few fuzzy smiles she had given Marceline throughout the two month's they'd gotten to know each other. The sun from the open window was hitting the side of her face perfectly, basking her in a warm half golden glow. Marceline's fingers came up to trace where the light started and Bonnibel's smile ended._

 _"You're beautiful," Marceline mumbled. "You should wear my clothes more often."_

 _Everything was so quiet, the birds outside muffled by the perfection of the moment around them, even the thudding of her heartbeat was silenced when Bonnibel stood on her tiptoes to kiss her again. She rested her hands on the small of her back, kissed the other girl back soundly._

 _Everything was perfect._

"Abadeer." Marceline jolted awake, snapping her head up from an angle that had made her neck sore. _Ah, right. I was in my Maths lesson._ She glanced up at the front, half expecting the teacher to be glaring and handing her a detention slip, but instead all she got was a kick to the back of her chair. _Fucking Jake._

"I swear to god," She hissed, swivelling round to glare at her friend. He was already a bit red in the face, which was odd, but Marceline looked past the colour in his cheeks. "Let me nap, for fuck sake."

Jake glanced at the floor guiltily. "I know, I'm sorry. I _really_ didn't wanna wake you up because you looked really happy but-," He was promptly cut off by the sound of the bell, meaning that Marceline had dinner and two more lessons with Bonnibel. _Thank fuck_. She began to pack her things away.

And to her pleasant surprise, Bonnibel was waiting for her outside the lesson (along with everybody else, but Marceline only cared about Bonnie and Bonnie was more than happy to loop her arm around hers and _smile_ up at her as they began to walk to their usual classroom).

They hadn't even turned the first corner when someone stepped out in front of them. "You're the girl who hit Ash." The boy asked under his breath. Well, it was more of a statement, but the guys face was curious all the same. He seemed to be rooted to the spot, eyeing up Marceline as if she was about to punch him too.

"He deserves it, Brad," Bonnibel replied for Marceline, gently tugging on her arm. Marceline remained where she stood. _This is Brad? I… he seems less of a jerk than I expected._

Brad ran a hand through his short brown hair and sighed. "You're always treating him like the bad guy. If he was don't you think he'd have been permanently expelled by now?" His eyes turned to Phoebe, who had hidden behind Jake the moment Brad had appeared. "I came to tell you that Ellen needs everyone in the prom committee to meet up tonight after school," Phoebe groaned and it seemed that Brad was going to leave with no arguments, but then he glanced at Bonnie and opened his stupid mouth once more. "It feels weird not having you with us, Elle, I really hope that next year you'll rethink leaving us. We could always use another pretty face like yours when looking for inspiration for prom." He gave her such a sleazy smile afterwards, too, that Marceline just _had_ to grab the hood of his jacket and pull him back so they were eye to eye. _Ain't no fuck boy going to chat up my Bonnibel as if she's just some prize to be won._

 _"_ First of all, shit head, Bonnibel is _gay_ , meaning you and your blue eyes can go cry me a fucking river. Secondly, Bonnibel is way more than just fucking inspiration. Keep that in mind when you're cupping your balls later on, yeah?" Brad's brows furrowed and Marceline took that as the perfect opportunity to bring her knee up between his legs. "And lastly," She breathed as she let him drop to the ground, turning to face her friends with an all too smug smirk on her face. "I'm not just the girl who hit Ash. I'm Marceline fucking Abadeer."

* * *

The Principle sighed heavily, eyes peering over his clasped hands to stare at Marceline and frowning deeply when she smiled back in return. Behind her were her friends, and Marceline was vaguely aware of Bonnibel's hands on the back of her chair. _That's oddly comforting, actually_. Sitting next to her, however, were Brad Simmons and Ash. She still didn't know the blonde's last name but she assumed it was either something edgy or incredibly embarrassing like Fitzherbert.

"Two of you already know how this goes down," Principle Johnson began. Marceline glanced at Ash from the corner of her eye. "And quite frankly I am tired, so I will issue out two weekend detentions to the person who you all think deserve it. You have until the end of this break to decide and please, don't let me stop you."

"Marceline deserves the detention," Brad muttered, now sporting a nasty bruise at the side of his face from being dropped onto the floor. Marceline stopped herself from smirking. "Everyone agrees? Yeah? Good, thank you."

"Why do you think _Marceline_ deserves the detention," Bonnibel was quick to come to her defence. "Just because you say so?"

" _No_ ," Ash cut in surprisingly, glaring at Bonnibel a little too harshly for Marceline's liking. She took note of his singular ponytail this time, and the bruising on the bridge of his nose. "Because your girlfriend attacked Brad for no reason, just like she punched me for no reason outside the diner."

Brad blinked. "Girlfriend?"

"Marceline _had_ reason." The air in the room was thick, and Marceline was pretty sure that the Principle was only there so that no one would punch anyone. "You called me a _dyke_ , for starters,"

"Is this true, Ash?" Mr Johnson asked after the surprise had washed over the rest of the room. Even _Brad_ looked shocked.

Ash shrugged a shoulder. "So what if I did? You can't punish me anyway; first week immunities, remember?"

Bonnibel's grip on the chair tightened. "You're redoing your last year again?" A beat. "Marceline should've hit you harder." It came out as a snarl, and what made Bonnibel outwardly more furious is that Ash simply smirked in reply and turned back to face the back of Brad's head.

"For now all I can do is issue Marceline a detention for this weekend," The principle spoke through a heavy sigh. From behind her, Marceline could hear the hushed disagreements of her friends. "This does not mean, however, that Ash won't be getting punished next week for his words used against Miss Butler."

Ash bristled and remained silent as everyone began filing out of the office, Marceline making sure to stand between Bonnibel and her ex just in case he decided to try anything else with his 'immunities'.

As soon as the door was closed, Ash span on his heel to glare down his nose at her and had the audacity to keep that damn smirk on his face. "Listen, baby goth, you obviously don't know how things work around here but I run this show. Okay?" He turned his attention to Bonnibel, then, smirk disappearing as he dared to step closer. "Keep your girlfriend on a leash, Banner, you're not gonna like what happens next if she attacks another of my friends." With that he and Brad stalked away down the hallway, leaving both Bonnibel and Marceline to scowl after them.

"He's such a dildo," Marceline muttered under her breath. "Why should I get a god damn detention just for breaking his fucking nose?"

"Leave it alone, Marceline," Jake finally spoke. "He's not worth it."

Marceline frowned. "He keeps calling you Banner," She muttered, glancing at Bonnibel to find a sad smile. "Why?"

"It's my mothers maiden name, Marcy. Ash and I were… together before my dad entered the picture. We broke up shortly before the wedding and I guess he calls me Banner to remind himself of that one time he had control over me." Bonnibel shrugged a shoulder as if they weren't discussing her old toxic relationship with a piece of shit on legs.

Marceline's frown deepened into a scowl directed at the floor. "I swear to god, I'll kill him if I have to."

"Marceline, as much as I would like to see Ash's head on a stick, he's- he knows people who could _really_ hurt you. Please, just stay safe. Okay?"

 _How could I say no to freckles and a pout?_

"Yeah, sure. I'll stay away from him."

* * *

 ** _Marceline (10:48):_** _Marshall listen there's this girl and I'm like,,, crushing incredibly hard on her. I want to make her happy n shit?_

 ** _Marceline (10:49):_** _holy fuck dude I don't know what to do, she's so cute and I just. I want to kiss her? a lot? what do I do?_

 ** _Marshall (00:21):_** _ayy lmao my marcymoo got a crush on a girl. Always knew u were bi. Sounds like u rlly like her tho, why don't u ask her out?_

 ** _Marceline (00:35):_** _because we're still technically dating! Im so ! Angry! She makes my heart hurt! so much! Fuckk! Also, there's this asshole ex boyfriend who's threatening me? Like? do u know who the fUck I am you lil bitch?_

 ** _Marshall (00:36):_** _lmao take this as ur break up message then :(( I miss my drinking buddy tho, u should come down and see me one day. Bring this hot gurl of urs tho, yea?_

 ** _Marceline (00:36):_** _Marsh I'm drunk af._

 ** _Marshall (00:37):_** _oh rip_

 ** _Marshall (00:38):_** _get some sleep, marce, u kno it's only Wednesday right? U got school n shit. Go get ur gurl and smooch the fuck out of her. I believe in u 333_

Marceline reread the messages from the night before as she wandered into the kitchen. Drunk Marceline broke up with Marshall? Alright. That was doable. Getting Bonnibel to 'smooch the fuck out of her'? That scared the living shit out of Marceline.

 ** _Marceline (7:19):_** _rip in pieces my head. How do u ask a girl to be ur gf? Didn't u steal my joint n then tell me I looked 'valid'?_

"Marceline," Marceline glanced up from her phone to see her dad standing beside the table. "As we discussed last year, I bought you a car for your birthday." _Oh shit, really?_ "However, you may only use it to drive to and from school."

Marceline grinned all the same. "Fuck yeah," She pocketed her mobile and took the keys offered to her. "Thanks daddy." As she marvelled at the keys in her hand, and her father began to make himself a cup of coffee, she remembered something Bonnibel had requested. "Can I drive my friend to and from school?"

"I… yes, I see no harm in that." Hudson muttered. "Just, make sure you look after the car. It's not just any old vehicle, I'll have you know."

"It's a mustang, yeah, I know. Is it black?" At her fathers nod, Marceline squealed in delight.

 ** _Marceline (7:23):_** _nyoom nyoom, butler, I'm omw to ur house in ten minutes w my new set of wheels like the teen heartthrob I've always been. Be ready 4 me 333_

With a very uncharacteristic hug from Marceline to her father, she ran out the kitchen and slipped on her shoes. _Time to be at school early for once._

Ever since she was little, Marceline had always wanted one of two cars; a DeLorean (because back to the future was that good) and a ford mustang. Of course Hudson had gone for the more classy approach, with the sleek looking 61 litre mustang. Marceline sighed wistfully.

 ** _Bonnie (7:25):_** _'nyoom nyoom' - marcy, 2k17. I'm always ready for you, loser. ;)_

 ** _Marceline (7:25):_** _I am nyooming to u rn!_

Marceline had never driven a car so powerful in her life. Sure, she'd driven Marshall's shitty beetle a couple of times, and one of her friends had a car that she couldn't remember the name of, but driving a sports car was just so exhilarating. Driving Bonnie to school was already becoming her favourite thing.

She pulled up outside Bonnibel's house with a grin that threatened to tear her face in two, and checked her phone once more to find a text from her now ex boyfriend. That was odd to say in her head.

 ** _Marshall (7:28):_** _make sure u steal her joint marce, then spill beer down her shirt and tell her to take it off ;)_

Marceline rolled her eyes. If she remembered correctly, she had started off hating Marshall from the get go. He'd asked her out within ten seconds of meeting her and then proceeded to pester her for her number. But he was nice sober, as rare as that was, and Marceline was quick to find out that he wasn't that threatening even when angry.

 ** _Marceline (7:31):_** _If I ever see Bonnie without her top on I'd die a thousand deaths and cry a little on the inside. What're u doing awake at seven am anyway, dipshit?_

 ** _Marshall (7:31):_** _dam u rlly like her? dam. & I got a job, actually, so stfu. _

Marceline decided not to really think about how much she actually liked Bonnibel. She already knew that somewhere in her mind she was suddenly okay with the commitment of marriage, and that alone scared Marceline to the point of over thinking. She texted Bonnibel to tell her that she was outside.

 ** _Bonnie (7:33):_** _You wanna come inside for a little bit? We're gonna be early if we set off now and I'm still in my pj's._

 ** _Marceline (7:33):_** _:0 you're not even ready for ur school day? disgusting. I'll be at ur door in a good twenty seconds._

It was more like thirty, the extra ten seconds being taken up by Marceline basically falling out of her car because she greatly underestimated how long her limbs actually were.

Bonnibel answered the door in sushi pyjamas with her toothbrush sticking out the corner of her mouth. Marceline's heart swooned.

"C'mon, nerd," Marceline sang as she bounced inside, a little too peppy for seven am even for her liking. "You're supposed to be the student council president, gotta get there super duper early and make everyone envy you, yeah?"

Bonnibel levelled a glare at her. "Usually my dad takes me, and he's not home until ten to, _nerd_." Marceline faked a gasp and slipped her shoes off, following Bonnie up the stairs and into her room with a grin.

"You're so _mean_ , Bonnibel." Marceline grouched, flopping down face first on her friend's still unmade bed. "I'm very clearly heartbroken and you're being mean to me."

Through the open door of the bathroom, Marceline saw Bonnibel's eyebrow arch in the mirror. "You broke up with your boyfriend, then?"

"Surprisingly the other way round," Marceline sighed. "I got drunk last night and starting rambling."

Bonnibel's face was an odd emotion, one that Marceline couldn't quite put her finger on. She twisted her mouth and glanced at the phone still in Marceline's hand. "You… uh, you've lied to me about two things." _Oh. Fuck, yeah._ "One of which I can understand because, hey, drugs are bad and whatnot, but… you told me you were single."

"If I'm gonna be honest with you I just completely forgot about Marshall and, uh, I guess I thought you were really pretty?" _Wait a minute-_ "I still do! Of course, I wouldn't have said yes to the Christmas date if I didn't think you were pretty."

Bonnibel's face was pink. "God I'm, _I'm so gay_." She breathed heavily, kicking the bathroom door closed. "The moment I saw you I knew I was attracted to you," Bonnibel carried on through the wood. Marceline grinned in reply. "No one should look that good in a leather jacket, and yet there you were."

"To be fair, you looked adorable in that baseball cap." Marceline complimented her in return. Bonnibel must've been bright red. "And don't get me started on the first day we studied together. A crop top, Bonnie? Really? Were you _trying_ to kill me?"

"Maybe." Bonnibel answered a little too slyly. "The shorts that day were a strategic choice, too."

Marceline suddenly found her face going very warm. Bonnibel had chosen to wear short shorts and a crop top to what? _Seduce_ her? _Bonnibel_? The fact that the other girl had even thought about her while choosing her outfits made Marceline's insides turn to goo.

"Are you going to quit making out with my mattress and drive me to school?" Bonnibel asked. Apparently she'd opened the door.

Marceline's brain had a jolt of bravery. "I have a better idea of what I could make out with," _Fucking shit. Did I really just say that? What the fuck?_

Bonnibel rolled her eyes despite the blush on both of their faces. "Drive me to school first and _then_ I'll make out with you, Abadeer."

 _Deal._

* * *

"I kind of hoped this would be more of a private escorting business for Bonnibel _only_ ," Marceline grouched, doubling over the steeling wheel and glaring at Phoebe and Jake through the rear-view mirror. They'd both gotten up late and had called Bonnibel _just_ as they were about to get into the parking lot of the school. Now they were going to be right on time, which meant absolutely no car make out session for Marceline.

"This'll be the first and last time, I promise." Jake muttered. "Lady's getting a car next month if she passes her test."

Marceline glanced at Bonnibel out of the corner of her eye, using all of her willpower not to kick their friends out of her car. "I'm going to kill them." She muttered over the sound of the radio.

"Leave them alone," Bonnibel giggled. "I'm _paying_ you, remember? Unless you'd rather me go with my dad every morning?"

 _Okay, she has a point. I have so much time to kiss Bonnibel now. Fuck. I'm actually going to kiss her. Holy shit. Does she know I'm going to cry afterwards? That I'm going to burst out of joy?_

Marceline pulled into the parking lot for the second time that day, still a little grouchy that her time with Bonnibel alone had been cut short.

"I've gotta go prepare for a meeting first period," Bonnibel breathed, grabbing her bag from the back seat between Phoebe and Jake. "Thanks for driving me, Marcy."

Marceline was a _little_ taken aback when Bonnibel leaned over the gearbox to kiss her cheek and from the looks of it, so were their friends.

The moment Bonnibel closed the door, Phoebe leaned forward with a grin. "You two made it official then?"

"Not yet," Marceline mumbled. "But I'm single and definitely ready to mingle."

"Finn will not be happy about this," Jake began, starting to open the door to leave. "I'm glad for you, though, you two seem good for each other."

"Hell yeah we are," Marceline replied around a grin. Phoebe snorted and leaned back into her seat. "I'll uh… ask her out soon. I promise."

"You better, Abadeer." She shot back, before she too was gone.

With the knowledge that Bonnibel could be her _girlfriend_ if she so much as simply asked her, Marceline's day was perpetually harder than what it had been when she was dating Marshall. Maybe it was because, in the simplest terms, then she could only stare from afar and wonder about how it would feel to kiss the other girl until both their mouths were numb. Now, with permission that Bonnibel had already promised her, Marceline could touch and bring those thoughts to practice.

Well, in theory.

In reality Marceline was a gay mess. A big gay mess.

She found Bonnibel leaning against the hood of her car, tapping away on her phone, with her bag dangling off her arm. Marceline unlocked the car and through her bag into the back seat with an absent minded whistle before coming up to lean next to her friend.

"You look tired." Marceline whispered, thumbing a smudge of ink on Bonnibel's cheek.

Bonnibel glanced up with a smile, pocketing her phone and letting her bag drop the rest of the way to the floor. "Being part of the student council will do that to you," She replied.

"Why not quit?" Marceline offered. "You seem… overworked. Every time is see you it's like you've taken on a whole new class just before exam period."

Bonnibel laughed and snorted and stepped closer, leaning forwards and up, and Marceline's head was screaming because holy shit _it was happening_.

Marceline pulled Bonnibel in for a hug instead, pressing her face into the other girls shoulder and wrapping her arms around her waist. Bonnibel didn't seem to mind.

"I'm sorry," Marceline breathed. "I panicked."

Bonnibel's laugh was hot against her neck. "I don't mind, Marceline. I like hugging you."

They separated from the hug the moment Bonnibel reminded Marceline that they were still on the school premises.

The drive to Bonnibel's house was mostly filled with Marceline lightly singling along to the radio. She was pretty sure Bonnie would have fallen asleep there and then if it hadn't have been for the fact that the drive wasn't actually that long.

"I'm pretty sure you could walk to and from school, Butler." Marceline said as she pulled up outside Bonnibel's house once more. "I think you just want an excuse to be in a closed space with me,"

"And is that a crime?" Bonnibel replied with an eye roll, collecting her bag and opening the door.

"Yes, actually. You're a wanted woman now Bonnie." Marceline threw in a playful wink just for good measure. She even leaned forward to grin at her friend. "Wanna roll to see if you get thrown in jail?"

Bonnibel span on her heel. "You're _such_ a dork." She muttered, leaning down to cup Marceline's face in her hands. Marceline didn't really think anything of it, so she just gave her a goofy grin and stared right back at her. It was only when Bonnibel's fingers tucked themselves in the space behind Marceline's ears to pull her just a little bit closer that Marceline realised what was going on. But by the time it took for Marceline's brain to click, and for Bonnibel to move that inch closer, she was already being kissed.

Bonnibel's lips were soft, plump and tugged upwards into that warm fuzzy smile meant for Marceline and Marceline only. And Marceline sucked in a ragged breath, pushing herself up away from her seat to place her hand on the other girls neck, thumb brushing the freckled skin beneath her ear. Everything about Bonnibel Butler was soft. Her laugh, her smile, her _lips._ Marceline couldn't help but remember that Ash hadn't kissed Bonnibel during his wasted time with her. She was the only person on the planet that knew what kissing Bonnibel was like.

It was Bonnie who pulled away first, eyes ever so slightly unfocused and teeth drawing her bottom lip inwards. Marceline wanted to do the same thing.

Marceline gave her another lopsided grin. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Of course," Bonnibel replied, and Marceline had the faintest idea that they weren't just talking about what time to pick her up for school. She began to retreat from her hunched position of being half in and half out of the car, but then quickly ducked her head back in to grin slyly. "Oh, and Marceline? You still haven't asked me out yet, you should get on that." It was then that she closed the door and skipped off towards her house.

 _Yeah, I'll do just do that._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I** **'m tired and you're watching disney channel. This is** ** _totally_** **just** **6k words of sweet, tooth rotting fluff. Mhm. Enjoy it while you still can. ;D**

 **Also, I kind of made this fanfiction a twitter account? Nothing too major, just used the text conversations and the many 'fake iphone conversation' tools and made a nice little account. Might be some special things over there soon.**

 **It's textsfromedu if you want to check it out.**

 **Content warnings: fluff, swearing, Ash, heavy plot, lots of foreshadowing. That's pretty much it for this chapter.**

* * *

 ** _Ash (00:01):_** _meet me at the usual place?_

 ** _? (00:04):_** _idk ash, and risk getting caught again?_

 ** _Ash (00:04):_** _is that a no?_

 ** _? (00:15):_** _its a_ _'I'm thinking about it'_

 ** _? (00:17):_** _stop texting me_

* * *

The sky was a miserable grey colour. It oddly reminded Marceline of Ash's eyes, or Marshall's laugh when he'd just smoked a cigarette in her bedroom, hiding it from her dad behind his back. It was impeccable just how absolutely gullible her father was; they'd told him that the smoke in her room was from a scented candle that she didn't even own, and he'd _believed_ them.

Now that she thought about it later on in life, maybe he hadn't believed them. Maybe he just didn't want to believe that his daughter was smoking weed in her bedroom with some guy she'd met at school.

"I want you to be on your best behaviour," Her father was saying, walking her along an all too familiar road. She didn't really understand why he wouldn't let her drive them to the Butler residence; she knew the way like the back of her hand at this point, and it wasn't like she was incapable of driving. "This dinner is purely business, no matter what your relationship with their daughter is, okay Marceline?"

 _That_ made Marceline's eyebrows shoot up her forehead. _What the fuck's that supposed to mean, dad?_ "Uh, right, yeah." She bobbed her head, as if there wasn't a blush threatening to crawl up her neck. _Just don't think about that time we kissed and you should be good to go._ "Business," Marceline muttered, shooting Hudson a pair of finger guns in an attempt to forget what her father had just _suggested_ as they began to walk up to the door. "I can do that."

Her father rolled his eyes. "Just stick to the three rules, honey. no swearing, political opinions or the amount of times you have or have not engaged in illegal activities."

 _I still don't even understand why I'm here. I could be at home, in bed, texting my friends and crying._ Hudson knocked on the door and straightened his tie, glancing at Marceline's flannel shirt and skinny jeans. _At least I didn't go with my ripped ones this time, father._ Marceline thought with a small smile. _You'd have thrown a tantrum the moment I walked outside._

Bonnibel's parents both answered the door, and as they greeted her father Marceline glanced over their shoulder to catch a glimpse of Bonnibel entering the kitchen.

"This must be your daughter," Bonnibel's mother turned to her with a smile. "I've heard so much about you, Marceline. I'm Catherine and this is my husband Liam."

Marceline took the hand that was offered to her, giving Catherine her best (and probably most awkward) smile she could muster. "It's nice to finally meet you," She breathed. "I hope your daughter has said good things about me." There was a playful tone to her voice that even _Hudson_ caught on to, and she'd said it loud enough to earn her a muffled snort from Bonnibel.

"Only the best things," Liam confirmed with a genuine smile. "Anyway, come in, come in. You must be freezing standing outside. I hope you're both fans of bolognese."

"Of course we are." Hudson replied for the both of them. "Now, may we go somewhere to discuss our business plans for a quick half minute?"

Marceline rolled her eyes and slipped off down the hallway away from the three adults, sliding into the kitchen and closing the door quietly. Her friend was stood at the counter putting the food onto the five plates and humming a quiet tune. Marceline was also pleased to note that Bonnie stood on her tiptoes to take the glasses out the cupboards.

She hovered towards her, not really putting any effort into not making noise, and smirked when Bonnibel jumped and turned when she put a hand on the small of her back.

"Hey, loser," Marceline muttered softly, peering at the food. "Your parents are cute." They looked at each other, and Marceline realised that if she moved a little closer their lips would be touching.

"I'm pretty sure you just gave me a heart attack." Bonnibel breathed through a laugh. Marceline leaned in with a smirk, half forgetting what her father had told her outside, and pouted when she felt Bonnibel's hands on her shoulders. "My parents are literally in the next room," Bonnibel reminder her. "And you've yet to ask me out."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Shut up," She glanced down to her friends mouth, taking in the half smirk and the fact that the cold had caused them to redden. "Kiss me."

"I need to set the table." Bonnibel groaned lightly.

Marceline snorted and bumped their noses together. "I can think of _way_ better things that you could be doing."

That was, in truth, all the persuasion Bonnibel needed to lean into that little gap and sigh gently against Marceline's lips. Bonnibel's hands caught in her collar, pulling lightly and staying bunched up in the fabric of her shirt. "You're an asshole." She mumbled quietly, still smirking. Marceline took the opportunity of Bonnibel opening her mouth to gently draw her bottom lip between her teeth, pleased when she felt the other girl shiver and try to shift closer.

It was all too loud laughter from the other room that caused Marceline to pull away, pressing another small kiss to Bonnibel's cheek as she picked up a plate and a glass with a wink. "Gotta set the table, yeah nerd?"

Bonnibel rolled her eyes but the grin on her face was just far too cute for her to not kiss her chastely once more. Only for a quick second though, because suddenly the door to the living room was opening and Marceline had to rush to the table to make it look like she'd been helping Bonnibel the entire time.

Because she had been. Totally.

It was about half way through the meal (which Marceline had found out had been made entirely by Bonnibel) when her relationship with Bonnibel was mentioned. To be fair, it was bound to happen considering Bonnibel apparently couldn't keep her mouth shut about Marceline for longer than ten minutes and her father couldn't exactly 'talk business' with two teenagers lurking about the place.

It was Catherine who had asked, something along the lines of 'how are you getting along with my daughter' to which Bonnibel flushed a shade of pink that looked quite lovely on her. It probably didn't help that Marceline immediately smirked, either, but she did. Marceline had replied by talking about their weekly study sessions every other day, which then prompted Bonnibel to ask her if she'd done the homework for the next week. (She hadn't, and both her and Bonnie knew that, but she wasn't about to let Bonnibel's parents know that).

"Bonnibel says you're talented at playing instruments, do you play in a band or?" Liam asked out of the blue.

Marceline blinked and looked over at Bonnie, who was twirling pasta around her fork and staring right back at her with a shy smile. "I play… _some_ instruments." Marceline replied carefully. "I used to be in a band, had to quit because we moved so many times though."

"You used to be in a band?" Bonnibel perked up. "What instrument did you play? Oh my god, did you _sing_? You sing really well in the car and I always assume that you've had lessons or something because-,"

"Take a breath, Butler." Marceline snorted, watching as Bonnibel blushed once more. "I used to play bass guitar and yes, I sang. Never had lessons though."

"Not that we didn't try to get you any," Hudson reminded her. "She flat out refused to go to any lessons we booked for her. She _is_ quite talented without them, however."

 _Holy shit did my father just compliment me? What the fuck?_

"But can't you play like eighteen different instruments?" Bonnibel asked in amazement. Marceline shrugged a shoulder. "You taught yourself all of them?"

"I guess?" Marceline muttered. "Once you get the basics of a certain instrument down, the rest are fairly easy to learn. Wind instruments all follow similar rules, string instruments are the same. Percussion instruments are the easiest if you've got a good sense of beat I guess? I don't know, according to you I'm some sort of music genius."

"You do sound like one, Marceline." Catherine said with a smile.

Marceline chewed the inside of her cheek. "I'm mediocre at best," She mumbled. "I'm only _especially_ good at playing my string instruments because of how long I've played guitar."

"You should play for our new years eve party," Liam offered with another of his genuine smiles. "We usually have live music for the festivities."

"And you'll be paid, of course." Catherine added, glancing between Marceline and her father. Bonnibel was busying herself with eating the rest of her food.

In all honesty, Marceline hadn't really played any music at all in her spare time since they'd moved. It _did_ sound nice to be able to play for money one last time in her life before she finally kicked it in and focused on getting a 'real hobby' as her father used to say.

"I'll definitely think about it," Marceline bobbed her head. "Thank you for the offer."

The conversation for the rest of the meal was pretty boring. Bonnibel and Marceline ended up playing footsie under the table, much to her fathers displeasure when he realised why his daughter was so fidgety.

Liam and Hudson both stood to go back into the living room as they finished their food, and Marceline watched with uncertainty as Liam led her father away. _Dad's gonna ruin their business. It happens literally every time we move._

"Bonnibel, why don't you and Marceline go upstairs to your room for a little while? I'll do the cleaning up," Catherine gave them both a big smile, trying her hardest to get them to leave in case they heard anything 'important', probably.

Noticing the blush on her friends cheeks, Marceline stood up and decided for her. "I think that's a _great_ idea." She smirked. "C'mon, pinkie, show me your mad scientist lab."

"Thanks for letting me help make dinner, mum." Bonnibel breathed through a weirdly forced smile. She edged around the table to take Marceline's hand in hers behind them. Marceline found herself being backed out of the kitchen and into the hallway, turning around only when the door was closed.

"Well that was _odd_." Bonnibel whispered. "My mother just let me have a _girl_ upstairs in my _bedroom_."

Marceline snorted and prodded Bonnibel's hip. "Maybe she shouldn't have, maybe I'm going to ravage you the moment we get in your room." She joked, watching her friends face turn red. "Or maybe I'm just going to make out with you for a good half hour, either one sounds good to me."

"You're such a prick," Bonnibel hissed, dragging Marceline upstairs by their linked hands. "No ravaging, please, both of our parents are literally downstairs."

"That's the only reason I'm not allowed to?" Marceline asked slyly. "Because if that's the only thing that's stopping us then maybe we should go to my place and-," Marceline was met with a hand over her mouth, and then another mouth moving gently as Bonnibel opened the door to her room. _This could definitely be taken out of context if anyone were to see._ Marceline thought to herself as she kicked the door closed.

"Asshole," Bonnibel mumbled. Marceline grinned and pressed further into the kiss, only for Bonnibel to pull away completely and pull her further into the room. "I'm putting a movie on. Ghostbusters or Gremlins?"

Marceline ducked her head back in for another kiss, laughing when she received a playful punch to the arm. "Alright, alright, Ghostbusters for sure. I once dressed as a ghostbuster for halloween. I think I was twelve? I looked like a dork."

"You always look like a dork." Bonnibel sang in reply, moving to the TV to select the CD. "Where do you wanna sit?"

Marceline glanced around the room, eyeing the double bed with a smirk. "I only see one place, Butler." As she said it, however, Bonnibel gestured to the wall next to the door and Marceline squealed in delight like a child in a sweet shop. "You have _beanbag chairs?_ "

"Ok, _that_ was adorable." Bonnibel said with a giggle. "Pull up a seat, Abadeer."

Marceline grabbed the red one, duh, and threw it in front of the TV. "Fuck yeah I will. This is, like, ten times better than sex." Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "You want the pink one?"

"I'll grab one myself, I'm setting up the movie." She replied, taking the remote off of her desk and turning on the TV. Marceline slouched back on her chosen chair, grinning up at the screen as the adverts began playing. "I'm going to go check if we have any snacks. You still hungry?"

"I could eat some popcorn," Marceline agreed. "I'll be waiting here, peasant."

Marceline could've sworn she'd heard Bonnibel say something jokingly about her manners as she left, but she was far too distracted with how damn comfortable her beanbag chairs were. She barely registered lights being turned off, but then popcorn was being placed in her lap and Bonnibel was in a beanbag behind her, leaning forwards so that she could kiss her cheek and lean her head on her shoulder.

"I think it's mixed," Bonnibel muttered, glancing down at her own bowl. "We haven't really gone snack shopping in a while, so I'm sorry if it's not your favourite or anything."

"Mixed is fine." Marceline assured her. "You're okay."

If Marceline was being one hundred percent honest, she paid more attention to Bonnibel than the film. She'd seen Ghostbusters at least fifty times in her lifetime, Bonnibel was something that she knew she'd have to savour. Her dad would make sure of that, whether he knew it or not.

Hudson had probably gone home halfway through the movie, Marceline was sure of it. He could not have stayed at the Butler residence for the entire hour and forty seven minutes.

"Marceline, honey?" Apparently, she was wrong. "Are you ready to leave?" _Has he waited for the movie to end?_ Marceline glanced away from the ending credits to the now very sleepy Bonnibel beside her, barely awake and leaning on her for support.

Marceline did what any supportive friend would do and squeezed her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep as the door opened. _Maybe he'll leave me alone and I'll get to stay a bit longer? That sounds cool._

"Listen," Catherine was there too, apparently. "She can stay for the night, it's fine. The news said it was going to carry on snowing all night and into tomorrow morning, I think it'd be dangerous for her to walk home alone."

 _It's snowing?_

"Are you sure? I can just take her with me now, I wouldn't want her to intrude or anything." Hudson replied. "I know the last time she slept over you two weren't at home and I was thinking about your daughter, but-,"

"Hudson," Liam's voice came through with a gleeful laugh. "Go have a night alone. We don't mind, really." The door closed and the voices became muffled, leaving Marceline to glance back at a now very awake Bonnie.

"Did you just _really_ pretend to be asleep?" She whispered under her breath. "Hudson is-,"

"What Hudson doesn't know won't kill him, Butler," Marceline mumbled around a smirk, leaning forwards to kiss Bonnibel. "Plus, I just scored myself a night at my girlfriends house, so I'm pretty happy right now."

Bonnibel pulled away with a small smile. "Girlfriend, huh?" _Oh, fuck_. "You just decided that we're dating?"

"I mean, if you want to?" Marceline was suddenly very glad that it was dark outside, and that the movie had stopped playing, and that the lights were off, because her face felt so damn hot all of a sudden and Bonnibel was grinning at her as if she was some sort of toy.

"I want you to _ask_ me, Marcy." Bonnibel whined with a pout, shifting closer so that their noses were touching. They faintly heard the front door open and close.

Marceline bit her lip as hard as she could without drawing blood and closed her eyes. _Okay, Abadeer, you're about to ask a super pretty girl to be your girlfriend and you're gonna do it well. You've technically already been on your second date, your tongue has been close to being inside of her mouth, you're pretty sure she's your god damn soul mate and you are so scared holy shit. Alright. Just open your eyes and ask her to be your girlfriend. It's not that hard._

She opened her eyes and felt around for her phone, discarded on the floor after having received a text from Phoebe about a bit of homework that she'd surprisingly done.

 ** _Marceline (6:17):_** _Will you be my girlfriend? Please?_

Bonnibel's phone buzzed and she took it from it's place on the beanbag, reading the text once over before laughing and replying.

 ** _Bonnie (6:17):_** _Yes._

"Told you that you were my girlfriend." Marceline mumbled despite her thudding heart. "Gotta trust me, Butler."

* * *

 ** _? (8:03):_** _you didn't have to trash my place._

 ** _? (8:05):_** _I'll be there in twenty minutes_

 ** _Ash (8:05):_** _good. You're easy to persuade._

 ** _Ash (8:06):_** _make sure you have all my money this time, yeah? It'll make it a lot easier for you._

 ** _? (8:10):_** _where am I supposed to get it each month?_

 ** _Ash (8:10):_** _kill someone_

 ** _Ash (8:12):_** _hurry up._

* * *

Marceline sighed and slid into the drivers seat of her car, cracking her knuckles on the wheel as she thumbed at the radio for a good station. It _had_ snowed the entire night, but it had slowed almost to a halt at around ten, somehow meaning that her boss wanted her to come into work. Or else, he'd said. _Or else what, jackass? You're going to fire me for not coming into work on a day that I don't even have a shift on? Yeah, seems legit._

Bonnibel had given her a scarf, thank god, and Marceline made a vague mental note to buy some gloves for the season ahead of her.

Marceline supposed she was lucky that Eddy had connections all over the place, because if it wasn't for him she'd probably still be looking for a job in a store that disinterested her.

The drive to her workplace was surprisingly only twenty minutes away from Bonnibel's house. Even in the snow, the Butler residence seemed to be in the prime location for getting about the town.

 ** _Marshall (11:06):_** _when are you coming over next? I haven't seen you in forever :(_

Marceline rolled her eyes at the text and pocketed her phone; she could always text Marshall during her breaks. It was pretty odd that all of a sudden Marshall was texting her now, considering she'd been an entire year away from him and he hadn't really made an effort to stay in touch. Maybe he really had got his life sorted out.

The bell above the door gave a little jingle as she stepped in to the small shop and shook off the snow from her shoes. _Damn stuff ruins every pair I get, I swear_.

"I was half expecting you not to come," Marceline looked over to the counter at her boss and fellow co-worker, giving them her best friendly smile as she walked further in. "I need you to restock the shelves, we've had a lot of sales with it being near December." Ricardio muttered with disdain. Marceline wondered if he even liked his job.

"That's fine with me," She replied, watching as the older man waddled off into the staff room in the back.

Maddie, the only other co-worker that Marceline had laid eyes on whilst working in the tiny charity shop, gave her a little smile. "He's always grouchy around Christmas, don't worry about it."

"Bad case of the Scrooge, eh?" Marceline joked under her breath. "I don't know how anyone _could_ be. Christmas is the second best holiday, under Halloween of course."

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a Christmas lover, actually." Maddie hummed and shrugged her shoulders. "You better go get the boxes out of storage before he comes back to tell you that you've ruined everything."

Marceline bit her lip in an attempt not to laugh. "I'll go do that."

She shouldered the creaking door open and felt around for the light switch, surprised when she found a light _pulley_ instead. She pulled at the old string and looked around at the numerous cardboard boxes and items that had been kindly donated. She took Ricardio being in the staff room and Maddie being a nice person as a chance to sneak a peak at her phone.

 ** _Finn (11:08):_** _When are you free next? The news lately has been wacko depressing and I want to gather round and drink beer and have fun._

 ** _Finn (11:10):_** _Bonnibel just told me you're at work, sorry! Message me when you can, though!_

 ** _Unknown Number (11:11):_** _Hey Marceline! This is Ellen Sarah-Peterson. You don't know me that well, but we go to the same school. I'm good friends with Phoebe Addams and a really old friend of Bonnibel Butler's. You've probably heard of me around school. I'd just like to let you know that if you punch my boyfriend again then you'll be dead in a ditch, sweetie. Ciao!_

Marceline blinked in confusion. _Ellen whom in the fucking what? This bitch is sending me death threats for punching Ash? Or was it Brad that she was dating?_

 ** _Marceline (11:17):_** _You've just subscribed to a daily Fuck You. Respond to this message for your first FREE Fuck You._

No reply. _She's no fun_. Marceline slid her phone back into her back pocket and grabbed two boxes, hefting one under each arm as she exited the room. Maddie was talking softly with one of the customers, a rugged old man who seemed to be a regular with the way Maddie was talking with him.

"With everything going on nowadays I think it's best if I just gave all my old trinkets and things away, dear." The man gestured to the box on the counter. "Others will get so much more enjoyment out of them than I do."

Maddie peered into the box, and then looked up at Marceline with a small smile. "Can you collect these and take them to storage when you're done with those?" At Marceline's nod, Maddie sent the man off on his way.

"Who was he? Looked like you knew him," Marceline muttered, shelving an odd looking glass trinket next to a stuffed frog with a missing eye.

"Just a regular, his name's William." Maddie sighed sadly, scribbling down something on the notepad beside her. "We get a lot of them, actually, until occasionally some of them just… stop coming."

Marceline swallowed and glanced down at the practically brand new alarm clock in her hand. "Do they… you know, do they die?"

"Some do," Maddie answered truthfully. "Some just stop coming altogether, others move away." _I wonder if this is how Eddy feels, he's probably had a few regular customers that just suddenly stopped turning up one day. Hell, I'm one of those people_.

Marceline was never great at goodbyes, when she left Eddy's music store for the last time, she had left him a sticky note on the computer screen in the staff room (how she'd gotten in there she'd never tell him), she'd done pretty much the same thing with Marshall only she'd actually written it on a word document on his laptop. "That's real sad." Marceline breathed.

"We get new ones, obviously, but part of me always wonders when they'll leave and who's going to replace them. This is an old town, Marceline."

Marceline continued to stock the shelves in silence, stopping only for a second when Maddie shuffled across the store front to turn on an old radio that had been sat on a stool. The rest of the first half of Marceline's shift was filled with a crackling indie folk song playing quietly in the background, as she set down old chess boards and a couple of DVD's that she knew Bonnibel would like.

"You can both go on your breaks now," Ricardio popped his head through the staffroom door a couple of hours later. He eyed the two of them up before disappearing once more with a huff.

 ** _Finn (2:16):_** _When do u go on break?_

 ** _Marceline (2:21):_** _like rn, why?_

 ** _Finn (2:21):_** _where do u work?_

 ** _Marceline (2:22):_** _The sunshine's smile charity shop. If you're coming over I can only chat for thirty minutes._

 ** _Finn (2:24):_** _I'm fetching Phoebe we're like ten minutes away._

Marceline sighed and watched as Maddie disappeared off into the staff room. Usually, Marceline would join her and they'd play a game of table tennis with the little space heater right next to them because of how cold it was. They'd talk, too, Maddie had a kid who apparently went to the same school as Marceline, though she couldn't quite put her finger on anyone by the name of Carlos.

At the familiar twinkling of bells Marceline was greeted with one pair of heavy booted feet, and familiar torn up jeans. _Ash?_ As if on instinct Marceline flew behind the shelf she had been restocking and held her breath. _I'm a fucking idiot. This place is tiny, there's eight fucking shelves and if I so much as make one noise he'd be able to find me._

"Ricky?" Ash called, wandering into the middle of the room. Marceline took note that he'd shaved off most of his hair, now just sporting the mowhawk and a new nose ring. "I need to talk to you, asshole." He hissed under his breath.

Marceline sucked in a breath. "I could go get him for you, if you want?"

Ash's eyes narrowed as they met hers, and Marceline was sure that she felt every bone in her body freeze, but he nodded vaguely and crossed his arms in response.

 _Right, okay, so Ash knows where you work now. Fucking perfect._ Marceline cracked open the staff room door and was pleased to find Ricardio awake and doing his job.

"A- uh, a customer would like to speak with you? Looks pretty scary, bleached hair, murderous glare?" Marceline squeaked. "Seems pretty urgent."

Ricardio sighed. "Send him in."

She nodded hastily and turned back round to where Ash was stood, looking like a real jerk ass fucker with his denim vest and plaid shirt over a black shirt. _God, does he shop at Thugs R Us?_ "You can go in," She told him, keeping the door wide open as he past. As soon as it closed, the bell twinkled again.

"Marceline?" _Holy shit is it nice to see another friendly face._

Finn was prodding a jar of whatever as Marceline came from out the back of the store, and Marceline noticed that Phoebe was staring curiously at a porcelain statue of a dancer in the far corner of the room. "'Sup, nerds." She greeted with a sigh, trying to shake the fact that Ash was in the room next door.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Phoebe commented with a smile. "You okay there?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm good." Marceline replied with a sigh. "How are you two?"

"Lady and Jake are on a date," Finn complained loudly, pouting as he turned his attention to Marceline. "So me and Phoebe went to the arcade for a little bit but then we got really bored and Bonnibel's at home waiting for you to get off work so you can go back to her place," _Wait, she is?_ "So I suggested that we come over here and make your shift a little bit more entertaining."

Marceline gave him a lopsided grin and took out her phone to check for any more death threats. "Thanks for thinking about me, dude."

 ** _Marshall (2:26):_** _hey Keila misses u, when r u going to get back in touch with her?_

 ** _Marceline (2:29):_** _nope. Not happening. I'll text you later, got a lot happening in my brain rn and I'd appreciate the space. Lov u!_

"Hey," Phoebe mumbled, sliding up beside Marceline as Finn's attention turned to the radio. "How's you and Bonnie? I got a text off of her last night saying that you stayed over and watched movies together."

"Well, that's a bit of an understatement." Marceline laughed. "We ended up having a debate over which Scream film was better so we watched them all and in between I made pancakes and we went out in the snow and had a snowball fight. Hence why I'm wearing Bonnie's sweater and scarf. The jacket and jeans are mine, they dried up rather well."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I hate the snow. Too cold and wet." She grouched. "Finn likes it, though, so I made the effort to go out today."

"Yeah? Are you… are you trying with him, then?"

"I don't know?" Phoebe shrugged and bit her lip, glancing over at Finn. "He's sweet and lovely, I'm just… confused. There's definitely _some_ feelings."

"You just don't know if they're romantic or not?" Marceline finished for her. Phoebe nodded. "Well, I think you should just take things as they are. He asks you to go out? Don't think of it as a date. If there are feelings there, they'll grow no matter what the context is." Marceline took a glance at Finn, too, only to find that he had somehow unplugged the radio and was now struggling to put it back in. "Don't know what you see in him, though."

Phoebe opened her mouth to reply, but the staffroom door opened and Ash sauntered out with a shit eating grin. "Who let him in here?" Came out of Phoebe's mouth instead of whatever sappy shit was going to originally come out.

Marceline bit her lip. "Me."

"I assume you're whispering about me?" Ash glowered at them from the centre of the room, grey eyes flicking between all three of them. "It doesn't do to talk about people behind their backs, Abadeer. Spit it out." _You're a fucking dildo on legs._ Ash quirked a brow.

"Shove off, Ash," Marceline said instead. "I need to continue working."

The taller man took a few steps towards the door and opened it wide, letting the freezing air in from outside. "You'd do well to take my advice and leave certain people alone, Marceline," He glanced at her, eyes roaming as always, before he spotted the scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. "That's Elle's."

Marceline's mouth worked. "Who's?"

" _Bonnie's_ , idiot." Ash spat. "Where did you get that? Did you steal it?"

"No, dumbass, she gave it to me. Not all of us have to resort to theft to get what we want." Marceline didn't quite know what she meant by that loaded statement, but she definitely meant _something_. Phoebe's hand shot up to grab her forearm in an attempt to tell her to _stop_.

Ash's eye twitched. "You're going to regret saying that, Abadeer."

And he was gone with a gust of freezing cold air as he slammed the door. Ricardio could only tell her to continue working.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Y** **'all we're not even halfway through yet and you're all already so worried. I can promise you that in this half of the fanfic no one gets hurt. Apart from Ash's nose and Brad's ego. The rating hasn't even gone up yet, so look out for that.**

 **Content Warnings: More plot stuff, some well deserved fluff, NO ASH, some minor brad, some sexy talk and more mystery! I love.**

* * *

It continued to snow on and off throughout the rest of November, right up to the eleventh of December. Marceline didn't really mind that much. Not with Bonnibel's lips on hers in her freezing car, parked in the school parking lot in the early morning.

"My dad said he might let me drive wherever I want to," Marceline sighed against her girlfriend's mouth before pulling away entirely. "Y'know, considering I've had it for almost a month now without doing anything bad."

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "Your dad needs to have a little more faith in you." _I couldn't agree more._ Marceline's phone pinged from the dashboard and Bonnie's brows furrowed. "Don't you usually have your phone on silent?"

"Yeah," Marceline replied with a shrug. "But I put notifications on for news alerts, y'know, with what's been going on."

 ** _BREAKING NEWS:_** _Investigation parties are now expanding their searches further out of Oakdale and into Greyport and other surrounding areas. Number of missing persons has gone up by one (1) over the past 48 hours. More information to follow._

"Any good news?" Bonnibel asked gently, peering over her shoulder.

Marceline shook her head solemnly. "'nother ones gone missing. Doesn't say how old they are or their name, though."

"How can six people just go missing in the space of four weeks?"

"Things like this happen sometimes," Marceline replied. "We've just gotta hope that they're just _missing_ and not-," She cut herself off when another alert came through on her phone. Bonnibel peered back over her shoulder.

 ** _Unknown Number (7:39):_** _[Attachment: One Image]_

 ** _Unknown Number (7:39):_** _You'll be the next one to go missing, bitch. Get out of Oakdale High or face the consequences. Get off our turf._

The image loaded and Marceline felt Bonnibel tense beside her. The picture was dark, blurry and badly taken, but Marceline could make out a tall guy stood in the centre of the image, wearing a mask over his mouth and a hat to cover his face and hair. It didn't help that the quality of the image was shit, nor did it help that the flash on the phone had helped the guy disguise himself. The gun in his hand seemed pretty real though.

"That's gotta be Ash, right?" Marceline asked around a dry throat. "Like who else would have my number? Ellen knew it."

"You should take it to the police," Bonnibel muttered. "That's a _threat_."

Marceline took a screen-shot of the two texts before blocking the number, nearly jumping out of her skin when someone knocked on the car window.

"What the fuck do you want?" Marceline practically yelled as she opened it. "Tell your fucking asshole buddy to stop sending me death threats, too."

Brad blinked in confusion. He looked out of breath, though the red in his cheeks was more likely from the cold than anything else. "I just wanted to know if you've seen the news? I didn't know if Elle had been taken or-,"

"Like fuck I'd let that happen, dick face. You weren't that worried when the others were taken." Marceline spat, flagging the boy off as she closed the window. He frowned a little bit, but remained outside the car as if he had other things to say to them.

Bonnibel warily glanced over Marceline's shoulder. "I don't think he's leaving any time soon," She mumbled. "He's going to want to talk to you no matter what, and we have class in less than fifteen minutes."

Marceline licked her lips and switched the engine back on, giving Bonnibel a wicked smile. "Wanna ditch the first two lessons with me?"

"What? No. Marceline, don't you dare drive out of this car park. "

Marceline pouted. "It's the last day of term, Bonnie. Skip the first two lessons with me, I'll take the blame. You can wholeheartedly say that you wanted to go back to school and learn and shit."

"I'm not letting you take the blame for anything," _Aw, cute_. "Marceline I have perfect attendance, you can't just expect me to skip lessons because I-,"

Marceline came up with an entirely different way of getting rid of Brad, then, as she watched Bonnibel's pretty mouth move in anger. She dipped her head down, taking the fact that her girlfriends mouth was open as an opportunity.

Bonnibel gave a squeak of surprise, face burning almost immediately, before Marceline felt two hands rest comfortably on her shoulders.

So, maybe they weren't skipping school.

* * *

"Do you wanna know something hilarious?" Jake started, wandering into the library with Lady's hand in his. "Everyone in my science class was talking about you two."

Marceline glanced up, face warming considerably in the air conditioned room. Bonnibel shifted on her lap. "Yeah?" Marceline replied, laughing awkwardly as she closed her book. It turns out neither of them had told their friends that they were dating in the entire month. Odd.

"Something about making out in a car?" Jake continued. From their seats, Finn and Phoebe looked up at them. "Which is _weird_ because… I'd have thought that, with us all being good friends and all, that you'd have told us if you were dating or not."

"Friends with benefits?" Marceline chanced, preparing for Bonnibel to glare at her or playfully smack her shoulder. It never came. Jake's eyebrows shot up.

"But- You're both crushing _massively_ on each other." Phoebe screeched. "You can't just fuck with those kinda feelings, you gotta go on dates and stuff."

"They're lying," Lady stated with a little knowing smile. "Bonnibel's grinning like an idiot and Marceline looks like if she blushed any harder her head would burst."

Marceline frowned and took a glance at Bonnibel, who was grinning widely. "I thought you told everyone," Marceline hummed. "Why not?"

"I wanted to see how long it would take for you to kiss me in front of them or something, which you haven't, surprisingly."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "I hate PDA. It's… awkward."

"I'm glad Marceline grew a pair, though." Finn jumped in, going back to doing his work. "I heard that Ellen broke up with Brad last week and that he was going to ask Bonnibel out on a date again."

"Yikes," Phoebe muttered. "That boy never knows when to stop. Didn't he know that you two were dating anyway, like, even when you weren't?"

"I told him they weren't." Finn replied.

Bonnibel froze. "Brad could've told Ash."

"Nah, not after the show we gave him this morning." Marceline teased. "I'll protect you from that asswipe, don't worry."

"Oh my strong hero, come to save the day with her freakishly strong arms and glowing smile." Bonnibel sighed wistfully and leaned back against Marceline, pushing all her weight down so that Marceline _had_ to lean back against the chair. She smirked all the same when her girlfriend continued, though. "Such a brave knight is she, that Marceline Abadeer, to save the princess from the grasp of Ash the evil wizard."

Marceline snorted, shifting under Bonnibel's weight so that she could wrap her arms around her friends waist, pressing her nose against the other girls jaw. "Little did the princess know, that the brave knight who had risked her life, was secretly a vampire, come to drain the beautiful girl of her blood." Bonnibel squealed and giggled as she began to writhe about on the chair, only stopping when Marceline gave her neck a peck. "Now we're married. It's vampire law."

Jake snorted from the doorway and moved over to one of the empty seats, throwing his bag down and collapsing dramatically. Lady followed, placing her own bag down with care as she threw a disapproving glance at her boyfriend.

From beside her, Marceline heard Phoebe grab something, and then suddenly the red head was laughing hysterically. "Who's Keila and why is she calling you a marshmallow?"

Marceline whipped round and snatched her phone back almost immediately, glaring softly at her friends who were all smiling too.

"She's an old friend." She stated, clearing the texts from her phone and putting it in her pocket. "Used to be lead guitarist in my band, you guys would like her."

"Why don't you text her back, then?" Bonnibel asked gently.

Marceline shrugged a shoulder. "Haven't talked to her in a while. It'd be awkward." _Too fucking awkward._

Jake opened his mouth to say something, but then Marceline's phone began ringing and Bonnibel snatched it from her hand the moment she could.

" _Marshmallow! You answered. That's a first. Are you wasted or something?_ "

Bonnibel giggled. "This is Bonnibel, one of her friends. Marceline is in the bathroom, so-,"

" _Woah, woah, wait- like, the really cute Bonnibel that Marceline has been telling Marshall about?_ "

Marceline groaned and took her phone back from her girlfriend, giving her a playful glare before answering Keila's question. "Yeah, hi. That Bonnibel. Didn't realise that you and Marshall were suddenly so close, thought you were on a strict no man diet."

" _Ew. Fuck off, jerk. As if I'd date your stoner of an ex boyfriend._ "

"Why'd you call me? I'm at school right now." Marceline asked. "Just because I haven't given you my undying attention-,"

" _Wanted to check up on you, is all,_ " Keila's laugh came through the phone and Marceline's heart ached a little bit from missing her so much. " _And anyway, you have a girl to give your undying attention to now._ "

"Sheesh, that's a loaded sentence Kei," Marceline muttered around a blush, all too aware of her friends eyes on her.

" _It was meant to be._ " Keila sighed through the other end of the phone before she continued with the rest of her sentence. _"Are you going to play her G string one day?_ "

Marceline snorted, watching Bonnibel's cheeks darken in colour. "Lame puns? You really have been hanging out with Marshall."

" _He misses you! We all do!_ "

Marceline had two options. She _could_ go visit them over Christmas, catch up on with her old friends and dwell on her past a little too much. The last time she did that was two years ago, and that had ended in tears. Her other option was a little safer, invite Keila and the others (including _Marshall_ ) up to see her and her new friends. Show them that she really had moved on from her old life.

"I'll come down for a couple days," Marceline decided quietly, forgetting she had a little bit of an audience. "Got a car now, anyways, can go where I want." _Yes. I'll go see them again, for old times sake._

" _Awesome, I'll tell Marshall. He'll be so fucking stoked._ " There was another voice on the end of the line, then, probably Keila's boyfriend or another familiar face that Marceline couldn't pin it to, but Keila yelled 'Okay,' back and Marceline arched her brow at the sudden rustling she could hear.

"Drugs?" Marceline chanced with a laugh.

" _Yeah, this asshole girl your brother knows keeps asking for freebies._ " The sudden realness made Marceline blink in response; the last time she had seen Keila she didn't want anything to do with illegal substances. Maybe Marshall had a little bit of an influence on her friends.

"Keep your nose clean, idiot," Marceline rolled her eyes. "If you get high while I'm over there I'll beat your ass into the grave." She decided to hang up the call at that, throwing her phone back into her bag where it was and glancing up at Bonnibel.. "Please don't answer my calls again."

"Roger." Bonnibel responded with a quirky smile. "Anything else you don't want me to do?"

Marceline shrugged and shook her head no, glancing down at her textbook. For the rest of break there was idle chatter about what they were all going to do during Christmas break, Marceline was happily left out of the conversation, and she didn't hear Lady's name come up either. She assumed Lady celebrated with Finn and Jake's family; they certainly seemed close enough.

* * *

 ** _Bonnibel (3:45):_** _We're waiting outside for you. Jermaine said he's leaving at ten to so you better get ur butt over here asap xx_

School had barely even finished and Marceline vaguely remembered that it was their long awaited Christmas date. She had assumed she'd be taking Bonnibel and one of the others in her car, to make it easier for Jermaine.

 ** _Marceline (3:45):_** _I'm coming dw. Tell him to set off now and I can drive you down myself._

 ** _Bonnibel (3:46):_** _Okay, hurry up though because I'm cold and Brad just looked at me. Haven't seen Ash today so I don't think he'll be at the diner._

Well, that was relieving to hear. Marceline trudged out of the front entrance and made her way to the car park, which was now full of cheerful students getting into cars and heading in the direction of the diner. Bonnibel was leaning against the hood of Marceline's car as always, smiling prettily and watching as two girls had a snowball fight nearby.

"You ready to go?" Marceline muttered as she stepped over to her girlfriend, grinning as her breath came out in front of her.

Bonnibel nodded gently, cheeks coloured from the cold, and smiled when Marceline nearly slipped on ice. "I swear, you're all limbs and no balance." She laughed when they both got seated in the car.

Marceline scowled. "It's a curse. I'm clumsy and I'm ninety percent giraffe." At Bonnie's snort, Marceline turned the engine on. "It's _fucking_ freezing. Can we wait a bit for the heater to come-," Bonnibel kissed her soundly, cutting Marceline off from any more complaining and warming her up a considerable amount.

"Drive, idiot, we need to order before the line gets long." Bonnibel breathed, hand coming up to stroke Marceline's cheek. _She's so fucking perfect I actually could die._

It took a little bit longer to get to the diner, Marceline blamed the hungry students and the fact that it had been snowing. Bonnibel was texting Lady throughout the journey, laughing and telling Marceline the odd inside jokes that they had.

"Y'know," Marceline sighed, parking in one of the few free spaces left in the parking lot of the diner and turning to Bonnibel with a little smile. "We should have a sleepover, a proper one, all of us. Hot chocolate, blankets, Christmas movies. Obviously we'd have it at my place, and you'd come over early for kisses and things, but I want to be cosy and have a nice Christmas get together with you guys." She could feel that she was blushing, and Bonnibel giggled and pressed their foreheads together in an attempt to kiss her over the gearbox, not quite reaching because she hadn't taken her seatbelt off yet.

Marceline closed the gap soundly, switching the engine off so that they were sat in near silence, the only sounds were muffled from the parking lot. Bonnibel's tongue tentatively skimmed her bottom lip, and Marceline finally found out what Bonnibel _tasted_ like. She sighed, pressed gently forwards, smiled when she heard the click of a seatbelt and felt arms around her shoulders seconds later. She kissed Bonnie slowly, thoroughly with contentment. There was another sound of a seatbelt, another breathy sigh, and suddenly Bonnibel broke away, cheeks flushed and eyes vacant.

"Line's gonna get long," She mumbled, meeting Marceline's blurry gaze. "We should probably go inside." And Bonnibel had the audacity to lick her lips and bite down on them afterwards.

 _This has got to be some form of torture_. "Yeah, course." Marceline agreed, still a little unsure on what Bonnibel had just said. She leaned forward and captured Bonnie's lips once more. _Yeah, I could kiss Bonnibel forever._ She couldn't, though, because she was quickly running out of breath and Bonnibel's phone began pinging; probably Jake being impatient and wondering where they were.

They decided to exit the vehicle before they spent a good fifteen minutes kissing. Not that either of them would have minded.

The Diner was incredibly busy as they entered, and Marceline warily took Bonnibel's hand in her own when she saw Brad at one of the tables. No Ash though, luckily.

"You guys _finally_ showed up, huh?" Phoebe said as they slipped into the booth at their regular table. Bonnibel was next to her, hand still in hers. "Too busy screwing each other in your car?"

Marceline snorted. "Yeah, something like that. Have you guys ordered yet?" Finn arched a brow but said nothing, glancing at the table and shaking his head. "Good. I'm starved."

"I'll order for us," Lady sang. "I'm in the festive mood today, fourteen days and whatnot."

Marceline cracked a half smile and glanced down the table. "I already know what I'm having, so if you guys have already got your orders?"

The table nodded and gave Lady their orders, replacing the milkshakes with warmer drinks as the snow began to fall outside.

"So, what're we doing for Christmas?" Phoebe asked around a smile. "I barely celebrate with my family and I wanna go out and have some fun."

"On Christmas day?" Finn asked incredulously, shaking his head a little when Phoebe nodded. "I guess we could try to do something. Ice Skating perhaps?"

"I'm down," Bonnibel declared before anyone else could speak. "I'm going to run laps around you, Abadeer."

Marceline's brows shot up her forehead when Bonnie pressed a kiss to her jaw. "Oh, alright then. I guess I don't do much on Christmas, to be honest. Haven't skated since Keila and I snuck out at midnight to a frozen lake a few years ago."

"Wow, you're such a rebel Marceline," Phoebe teased lightly. "Bonnibel would never do such a thing. Her bed time is six o'clock sharp."

Marceline snorted, earning her a light squeeze from Bonnibel's hand still wrapped around hers. "Nah, she stays up with me on school nights to watch old movies. Secretly a rebel, aren't you, Bon?"

"Duh," Bonnibel replied with a huff. "Bellybutton piercings and old movies are the way to bad grades and fowl language."

Marceline laughed aloud at that, shaking her head at her girlfriend and clutching her stomach. The others found it far too amusing, too.

"We were talking about you guys the other day," Lady said through her mirth. "Classic who tops conversation."

"If you said me you're wrong and you obviously don't know me at all." Marceline said in all seriousness. Bonnibel looked at her strangely. "I'm a bottom and y'all know it." _Shut up, Marceline._

"Y'all?" Phoebe muttered. "Who says that any more? My grandma?"

"Bottoms." Marceline stated, a little too pleased when Lady ran off to go get their drinks.

Bonnibel had ordered a hot chocolate for them both to share, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. She wanted to see Bonnie try to drink it and wind up with cream on her nose, but the other girl was still occupied with staring at her as Lady sat their cups down on the table.

"I said you were a top." Jake confessed sheepishly. "Only because I barely know what Bonnie's like because we've never had those conversations."

"I-, uh, I switch." Bonnibel mumbled around a straw that had suddenly appeared in her mouth. Marceline picked up a spoon and started on the toppings. "I've only ever told Lady, though."

"Mhm, and I said you were a bottom, don't worry." _Good. I'm glad someone pays attention to the fact that I have no clue what I'm doing at all in any aspect of life._ "Finn said you were both bottoms, which confused me."

"I thought the opposite, actually." Phoebe laughed. "Thought you were both tops and it would just end up with you both naked and laughing or something."

"I mean, yeah," Bonnibel giggled around a grin. "That's what's going to happen anyway."

 _Wait, Bonnibel wants to have sex with me? What the fuck? Am I like, dreaming or something?_ Marceline saw Bonnibel look at her through the corner of her peripherals, saw her eyes linger at her mouth for a little too long considering they were in a crowded diner, and realised that she must have been a little red from the topic of conversation. She gathered some of the cream onto her spoon, collecting one of the mini marshmallows, and turned to her girlfriend with a smile.

"Open up," She sang as she waved the spoon around in Bonnie's face. "C'mon, they're really good." Bonnibel happily obliged and hummed in delight as Marceline fed her the toppings. _Damn she's cute._

"Bonnie told me you might be playing for her parents new year party?" Lady asked from across the table.

Marceline nodded. "I've been thinking about it; I need the money and Bonnibel has wanted to hear me play something for a while now."

"You've been claiming that you can play almost every instrument," Lady reminded her. "We all want to hear you play _something_."

From beside her, Jake nodded and sipped his tea. "Even Finn wants to hear you play."

 _I guess I could play something for them? Maybe something indie and obscure, just so they'll be extra impressed if they don't know it. Maybe._

Marceline bit her lip in thought, unconsciously staring intently down at the table. Bonnibel brought her out of her head when she tangled their hands together and smiled softly up at her. Just like that, it was only them in the room. _I could do it for her, I'd do anything just for that smile._

"Abadeer." Brad's voice came from somewhere beside them, making Marceline begrudgingly look away from her girlfriend to her right. Sure enough, Brad was sauntering towards them with a boyish grin wider than Finn's, hands in the pockets of his black and blue varsity. "Can we talk?"

It was a difficult offer; if Marceline said yes she knew he would probably lead her to wherever Ash was, teach her a lesson for punching them both, but if Marceline said no her reputation would go down the drain in a matter of minutes. She sucked in a breath. "Here? Yeah, go ahead."

Brad's eyes twitched, threatened to narrow almost, but his grin never left his face. Marceline wanted to punch him again. "I'm not Ash. I'm not going to lure you to a back alley and beat you up," He muttered. _Can he read minds, now?_ "Come on, it'll be a five minute conversation I promise. We won't even leave the diner."

 _Why is he being so persistent?_ "I'm not leaving in case my food arrives, but feel free to get off whatever it is you need to get off your chest. Obviously, it's eating you up inside." She added the last bit under her breath, rolling her eyes as she checked her phone for the time. Their food would be ready shortly. Good.

"I like your girlfriend," He said coolly, as if Bonnibel _wasn't_ sat next to her. Marceline seethed from where she was, glaring harshly as his grin widened. "See? This is a conversation for elsewhere, wouldn't you agree?"

Bonnibel's hand squeezed hers lightly from under the table, and Marceline relaxed almost immediately. "Fuck off, idiot," She growled lowly. "If you knew any better, you'd turn away now and leave us alone."

"He obviously doesn't understand simple commands," Phoebe joined in, leaning forwards so that she could glance at Brad. "If I remember correctly you've had this discussion a few times now? With Bonnibel? You're not exactly intelligent, huh? If you've had to be told no more than once."

Brad bristled, eyes switching between all three of the girls sat at the table, before he span on his heel and walked away in silence. Marceline rolled her eyes. "Boys."

"Tell me about it," Bonnibel whispered in reply with a little smile on her face. "You handled that well, though, I'm proud of you for not punching him. No matter how badass and hot you look when you do."

"Hot?" Marceline repeated in disbelief.

"Of course, I wouldn't have let you beat him up at school if you didn't." Bonnibel said as a matter of factly.

Marceline snorted. "Want me to go to his table and beat him up again right now?"

"Please do," Phoebe answered for Bonnibel. "I'd pay good money to see you wail on him properly."

"Now that we're talking about it, I would too actually." Finn said through a laugh. "You're surprisingly badass when it comes to unbridled punching. I mean, _Ash_?"

"To be fair, I didn't know how much of a dick he was," Marceline reminded him. "And why is my badassery surprising to you? You looked like you were going to piss yourself when I first saw you in the heads office."

Finn's face flushed a dark red and he sank into his seat. "I thought I was going to get into trouble, sue me."

Marceline opened her mouth to retort, but Lady stood from her seat and suddenly Marceline was so much more interested in the fact that she was hungry. A grin split her face in two as Lady returned with their food, tailed by Terry with the rest of it.

"Discount?" Marceline asked the old woman cheekily, accepting her plate from Lady with a little too much enthusiasm. Bonnibel elbowed her ribcage, leaning forwards to take her own food from their friend.

Terry's smile grew. "Of course, dear. Bonnibel, why didn't you say?"

"I forgot?" Bonnibel shrugged, glaring lightly at Marceline for even bringing up the subject. "Doesn't matter, you know now." Terry pottered off away from their table, leaving Bonnie to remove her elbow from Marceline's ribs.

"I can't believe you just told her we were dating for a discount." Bonnibel grumbled after a minute of silence.

Marceline shrugged and threw an arm around her playfully, smirking when Bonnie's soft glare disappeared from her face. "I'll only use it this one time, I promise."

Her arm remained loosely around Bonnibel's shoulder's for the rest of their date at the diner. Bonnibel didn't seem to mind.

* * *

 ** _Ash (4:36):_** _Where are you?_

 ** _? (5:58):_** _Can y ou cal an ambulance_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Howdy, I** **'** **m writing this at midnight because I just wrote 500 words for the next chapter and decided that you guys deserve this chapter early this week. Also, don't forget to leave a review! They make my entire week to read, and I'll try to reply to them more often if there's more. Thank you for all the kudos/follows/favourites/whatevers. We hit 100 kudos on ao3 and I didn't realise until now. Thank you so much!**

 **Content Warnings: SICKENING FLUFF, kind of a lil bit borderline nsfw near the end?, more mystery?, bowling, tempted to write a finn x phoebe one shot for this tbh.**

* * *

 ** _BREAKING NEWS:_** _Ambulance calle_ _d to an old saw mill 8 miles east of Oakland. All missing persons were found inside, waiting for more information on the suspects and the victims from the police. Stay tuned for more._

Marceline automatically assumed it was Ash. For some reason, in her head, a teenager could kidnap six people and get away with it. Just seemed logical because it was Ash. Then, she clicked on the full article and was surprised to find that it had been Ash who had called the ambulance, and was being questioned about how he knew about it in the first place. It all seemed a bit odd.

Finn's hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up from her phone. "C'mon, Abadeer, we wanna hang out with you before you leave for a few days. Bonnie will be there," _Now that is a convincing point. Damn my weakness to cute girls with pink hair._ The boy glanced down at her phone then, reading the article with a frown. "Don't get caught up reading that, they're all safe now, yeah?"

 _They were kids our age, idiot, of course I'm caught up in it._ "Yeah, what're we doing again? Bonnie said something about bowling."

"Hell yeah," Finn's usual grin was back, and Marceline slipped her phone into her back pocket. "Triple dates are the best because I get to hang with Phoebe," He paused. "Thanks for explaining all that junk, by the way. I… guess I was rushing her a little too much."

She gave him a slanted smile as she stood from his couch. "No biggie, right? You just need to relax; even if she turns out to _just_ like you as a friend at least she's willing to try for you, right? That's some best friend shit right there." Finn nodded and glanced out the window, frowning when he saw no sign of Jermaine's car.

"Snow sucks, they'd be here already if it wasn't for the weather." _Snow sucks? From Finn? Geez, he must really like bowling._ "What're you planning to do when you go back for a few days?"

"Uh, nothing much. Might jam with Keila for a bit and go see Marshall." Truth be told, she wished she never even made plans to go up to see them in the first place. Driving in snow made her so much more frustrated than it should do, and the thought of seeing Keila again made her feel nauseous.

"Do all your friends do drugs or?" Oh, Finn. You have absolutely no tact whatsoever.

Marceline shrugged and shoved her hands into the pocket of her black hoodie. "Probably, they're all assholes. When I left Keila was supposedly clean."

Finn nodded and sighed. _Who's idea was it to have me drive up to their damn house and be alone with this boy? Phoebe and I would have gladly switched positions. Hell, I offered to go pick Bonnie up in the first place_. "They're here," Finn gestured to the window, watching as Jermaine pulled up in the driveway. "I think Lady is going with you and Bonnie."

"You think? Or you know because you made sure Phoebe was in the same car as you?" Marceline teased. "As long as I'm with Bonnie I'm good. Need to ask her what she wants for Christmas."

The front door opened and Marceline didn't even have time to prepare as Bonnibel rushed in from the cold and threw her arms around her waist. "I missed you, you lanky idiot."

"Real good compliment, babe." Marceline replied, sticking on the babe just to tease her girlfriend. "And you saw me last night."

"I bet," Lady rolled her eyes as she wandered in hand in hand with Jake. "Does anyone wanna pee before we leave again? The closest bowling alley is a few miles south of here." At that, Phoebe surged through the front door and up the stairs. Marceline noted the fond smile on Finn's face.

"I guess Phoebe does," Jake said through a half grin. "Anyone else?"

Marceline shrugged and glanced down at Bonnie, still wrapped around her midsection. "I went before I set off over here, thanks for the offer."

"I'll go." Bonnie mumbled into her shoulder. Marceline watched, probably with a similar smile to Finn's, as Bonnibel pulled back and unwound her arms from her waist.

"Jermaine's waiting for us," Jake muttered gently as Phoebe came back down. "C'mon guys. Lady's going with Marceline as per Finn's request." Ha. I was right.

Bonnibel boosted herself up on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to Marceline's cheek before she too sped up the stairs. The room smirked at her.

"Yeah, yeah, she kissed me, whatever. Get in the car. Lady knows the way, we'll be like a minute behind." Jake, Phoebe and Finn all left silently, and Jermaine's car rolled out of the driveway and drove off down the road.

"Bonnie really likes you, Marceline." Lady commented as soon as silence settled around the two. _Oh we're having that conversation now? Good. Just grand._

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on breaking up or hurting her. I'd be an idiot if I did," Marceline joked, holding her hands up as she half grinned. At Lady's satisfied nod, she lowered them back to her pocket and smiled when she noticed Bonnie coming back down the stairs. "You're both ready, yeah?"

The two girls nodded and Marceline smiled to herself. _Good. This is… good. I think? I've never had friends who were willing_ to _drive to a bowling alley just because I was going back home. I've never even had real friends other than Keila and Marshall, and I messed up with both of them. Fuck._

She felt Bonnibel's hand reach for hers, and a kiss was pressed to her lips not too long after. "You look a little caught up in your head," _Yeah, you could say that_. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, promise." Marceline grinned. "C'mon, let's go."

* * *

Finn and Jake were already rushing off to get a bowling alley when Marceline and the others wandered up to the front desk to grab some shoes. Bonnibel looked _adorable_ as she stood on her tiptoes to take them from the man behind the desk, and Marceline couldn't hide the smile on her face when her girlfriend turned around.

"Shut up," Bonnibel grouched. "I'm short." They began to walk into the main area, through the arcade and past the restaurant to where the others were already gathering. Marceline just kept smiling to herself all the way there.

Finn was typing in their names when Marceline threw herself down next to him, glancing at where her name was supposed to be. She arched a brow when she saw the word 'BISEXUAL' but began laughing loudly when she saw Bonnie's name. " _Princess_?"

"It was my nickname when we were kids," Bonnibel explained, perching herself on Marceline's lap with a cute little smile. Marceline was about to tell her that were enough seats for them all, but decided against it when Bonnie put an arm around her shoulders.

"Princess?" She repeated after laughing. "Suits you,"

Bonnie just scoffed and shook her head in response. "You're awful."

"Hm, maybe. Maybe I just think you deserved to be treated like one." And Bonnibel's face flared up, a small smile pressing into her shoulder as she hid in the curve of Marceline's neck.

Finn finished thumbing in the rest of their names and turned to his brother with a smile. "You're up first, better make it a good one." His brother rolled his eyes.

As Jake picked one of the balls, an all too familiar song began to play over the speakers of the room. Marceline relaxed and began to hum along almost instinctively, earning a small kiss and a giggle from Bonnibel when she looked back at her.

"Jake got a strike," Phoebe leaned down from somewhere behind them to whisper in their ears. "If you'd be bothered to stop being gross and pay attention."

"We'll stop being gross when you stop watching us." Marceline retorted lightly, smirking when Phoebe rolled her eyes with a grin. "And anyway, it's your go next."

Bonnibel kept her head on Marceline's shoulder for the entirety of Phoebe's go and grumbled under her breath when she stood up to pick her ball. It was ridiculous how hard it was for Marceline to not watch as Bonnibel got a strike immediately, looking especially cute as she did a little victory dance and high fived Lady. _I guess it's my go, then_.

Marceline picked a deep purple ball, liking the way the glossy paint looked iridescent in the light. She'd gone for one of the heavier ones as was her usual pick when she went bowling Keila and the rest of her old friends. _Oh god, that was horrible, don't look_. Marceline turned on her heel so that she didn't have to watch her weak throw, but was surprised when the rest of her friends began to cheer. _What just happened?_

"Third strike of the day, Marceline," Lady congratulated her with a wide smile. Marceline blinked and glanced over her shoulder to make sure that all the pins had actually gone down. "What happened to you telling me you were bad at bowling anyway?"

"I uh, guess I got lucky?" Marceline shrugged a shoulder. "Usually I get gutter balls and laugh about it over a slushie."

The next few rounds went around in a blur of laughter whenever Finn set up his throw and cheering whenever Bonnibel got a strike, which was a lot. _Everyone's really good at bowling,_ Marceline thought to herself as she glanced up at the score board. She was last, and Bonnibel and Jake were tied for first.

"Alright, Bonnibel, if you win I'll pay for your food after." Jake promised her girlfriend, smiling as he took his ball. He stepped up to the lane and managed to hit five of the pins for his last go.

Bonnibel chewed her lip in thought. "You pay for both mine and Marcy's food, yeah?" _Agh, there's she goes with the nickname again._ At Jake's nod, Bonnibel bowled a strike.

"Fuck yeah!" Phoebe cried out, throwing her hands in the air and getting some looks from other groups nearby. Marceline applauded with Finn and Lady as Bonnibel did another little dance.

"How many strikes did you get?" Marceline asked gently when Bonnibel practically threw herself at the other girl, arms wrapping around the back of her neck. Bonnibel shrugged and grinned and Marceline's heart flew in her chest as her girlfriend boosted herself up to kiss her soundly.

"Four," Lady interrupted with a soft eye roll and fond smile. "Food?"

Jake came up behind her, sifting through his wallet in search for his card. "I guess I'm paying for all of us,"

"I can pay for me and Bon, don't worry about it." Marceline stepped away from Bonnibel, taking her own wallet from her pocket and smiling at Jake. "Dad's loaded, remember?" She said when she noticed the confused stare from Finn.

Jake and Lady led the way to the little dining area in the corner of the bowling alley, Marceline vaguely remembered that the bowling alley back at home also had the same burger place. Jake started pushing two of the tables together, and looked to Finn for help. His brother, however, was too busy following after Phoebe toward the woman behind the counter.

"Abadeer, why don't you help my boyfriend while I talk to Bonnie for a second?" Lady offered, gently pushing the much taller girl towards Jake. "You two barely talk, anyway." _Right, yeah. Sure… because my social interaction skills are that of a walnut. Also, your boyfriend looks like he could kill me and I'm kind of secretly scared of him?_

Marceline's brain short circuited. "I-Wha-," Jake looked exasperatedly up at her. "You need more muscle there?"

"Could do with it, yeah." Jake replied, nodding to the other table. "Start pushing that one and we'll meet in the middle."

Marceline obeyed and pushed her table forwards with force, frowning when it didn't budge. From in front of her, Jake began to chuckle. "Shut up, I'm lanky, not buff."

"Yeah, yeah," Jake rolled his eyes. "I'll take you to the gym one day, Abadeer, then you'll be able to push a _table_." _A gym? Is Jake for real? I'd die._

Marceline forced out an awkward laugh. " _Right,_ I'm eager for that day to arrive." She muttered sarcastically, glancing over at Bonnibel and Lady. "Are you two talking about me?"

"Of course," Lady called from over her shoulder. "You're always the topic of conversation with Bonnibel around." Bonnie swatted Lady's upper arm and sent her a glare.

Marceline surged forwards once more and was surprised when the table lurched a few inches, slamming into Jake's. _I was so much help, go Marceline_.

"I'm glad you moved that table two centimetres to the left, Abadeer, it really helped me with the table I got from the other side of the seating area." Jake laughed.

"Are you sassing me?" Marceline grouched, crossing her arms over her chest with a pout. Jake laughed some more and walked over to his brother and Phoebe.

Marceline joined them with a sigh.

* * *

It looked like it was going to rain. Or snow. Marceline couldn't tell at this point; everything seemed a little too grey yet a little too crisp. She inhaled sharply.

Finn had insisted that they play a few rounds at the arcade, something that Marceline's growing headache wouldn't have liked. So, she opted to stand outside to 'clear her head' for ten minutes. It seemed to be working.

The pinging of her phone broke the silence.

 ** _Bonnie (4:28):_** _If you want to head home then Phoebe's dad is picking her up at quarter to which means Lady can go home with the boys and we can leave now._

 ** _Bonnie (4:28):_** _I have ice cream in the fridge at home & we can always order pizza if we get hungry later on. _

_She's actually willing to ditch her friends for me? What did I ever do to deserve her?_

 ** _Marceline (4:29):_** _sure._

 ** _Marceline (4:30):_** _I'll be in the car, hurry up tho because it might snow or something and I wanna watch a movie when we get home._

With that, Marceline slid her phone back into her pocket and swiftly made for her car. She was lucky her father liked Bonnibel so much to let her stay over as much as she did; without his permission Marceline was pretty sure she would've been sneaking out every night just to go watch a movie and fall asleep next to Bonnibel on the beanbag chairs.

She threw herself down in the drivers seat and placed her hands on the steering wheel, staring blankly ahead. _He thinks she's a saint. Pfft, if only he knew that she liked kissing girls. He'd blow his top. Throw a fit because 'oh, Marceline, how could someone so perfect be so flawed?' and then he'd start going back to church. Compared to her, I'd look like an angel._

 _No, my father's smart, he'd connect the dots and realise we're dating. Throw me in my room and lock the door, tell me I had been tempted by sin… whatever that means._

Marceline's forehead hit the steering wheel as she let out a sigh. "I swear to god if he decides to move again," _What would I even do? I'm head over heels for her, I can't just leave all this behind. Fuck._ Her phone came back out again. "Siri, how much do apartments cost in Oakdale?"

 _"_ _I found fifteen results, please tap the one you are looking for."_

The cheapest was around £255 per month, which was £100 under what she got from working a full week at the store. All she'd have to do was save up £355 for the deposit and she could potentially move in. Well, whenever her father decided to up and leave Oakdale.

The passenger seat door opened and Bonnibel slid in quietly, closing the door behind her as she gave Marceline's cheek a quick peck. She glanced down at the phone in her hands, too.

"House hunting?" She asked gently.

Marceline shifted in her seat, looked up at Bonnibel so that she could give her a proper kiss. "Just… thinking of when my dad decides to move again. I don't wanna- I'm not good at leaving people behind and you're literally _everything_ to me. I don't think I'd be able to leave you, Bon."

Bonnibel sighed softly, looking back at Marceline's phone with a smile. "If I'm being honest, I don't want you to leave either, but I doubt your dad would just sit there and let you buy an apartment by yourself." _Okay, yeah, understandable_.

"I'll get a flatmate, then."

"What about me?" Bonnibel chanced. _Oh._ "I know we've only been dating for like barely a month, and that living together can change a relationship sometimes, but I'm looking to move out next year and your dad will be less suspicious."

Marceline leaned forward with a grin to kiss her deeply this time, brain barely registering the sound that came from the back of Bonnie's throat. _I would like to make her do that again at some point in the near future, please and thank you._

"Bonnibel Butler you're a genius," She breathed as soon as she broke away, grinning at the little smile on her girlfriend's face.

"I've been told," Bonnie mumbled in reply to the compliment, fumbling around for her seatbelt. "Let's go back to my place, it's cold in your car."

"Hm, okay," Marceline hummed and nodded. "I don't pass up on pizza."

Before Marceline could pull out of the parking space, Bonnibel's hand came up to her cheek and turned her head so that she was facing her. "Also, you put the word home in your text."

Marceline's mouth went dry. "Uh, yeah, I guess I did? I'm an idiot. Don't listen to me."

Her girlfriend rolled her eyes and kissed her nose. "I don't mind, dork. If you feel more at home at my house then that's fine-,"

"It's not… it's not your house. I feel more at home when I'm around you, Bon." Bonnibel's ears tinted red and Marceline realised that maybe she should have let Bonnibel continue.

She drove out of the parking lot, using her focus on the road an excuse to stay silent for the rest of the journey back Home.

* * *

"You _cheated_." Marceline seethed, glaring daggers at Bonnibel who was sat at the other end of the bed. Her friend just giggled and brought her pillow round to meet the side of Marceline's head.

"It's not cheating if you don't make it a rule, Abadeer," She teased. "And anyway, you're the one who started this. I think you're just jealous because I'm winning something that you-,"

Marceline threw her pillow directly at Bonnibel's face, grinning when she saw the perfect attack opportunity. She grappled Bonnibel's waist and they both toppled onto the beanbag chairs next to the Bonnibel's bed.

" _That's_ cheating." Bonnibel huffed from beneath her, bringing the pillow across Marceline's face once more.

Marceline cackled and arched a perfect brow. "You didn't make a rule."

Their position must've dawned on them both, then, because Bonnibel's face went a deep red and Marceline shifted in her place where she was _straddling Bonnibel's waist_ and she let out a choked gasp because _fuck she's adorable and also really fucking attractive when underneath me? But wait where did that come from?_

Marceline opened her mouth to say something, but then Bonnibel's hands were on her hips again and she was being tickled once more.

"B-Bonnie!" She gasped in response, laughing as she fell to the side and off the beanbags. "S-Stop, oh my- _Bonnie_ ," When Marceline opened her eyes, their positions had been switched and suddenly she was the one blushing wildly.

Bonnibel leaned down, a cute little smile on her face. "Good girls don't cheat,"

 _Holy shit what the fuck does that mean?_ "Wha-?" Marceline tried to squeak out a sentence before Bonnibel kissed her but she was far too slow.

Marceline's hands settled on Bonnibel's lower back, trying so desperately hard to keep whatever that noise was in the back of her throat. Well aware that she was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, Marceline's grip on Bonnibel's shirt tightened on instinct.

Her girlfriend kept a steady pace, her tongue doing that thing that she had learned Marceline liked, and hands settling firmly on her collar. Marceline was acutely aware of the fact that her girlfriend's legs were on either side of her waist, denim clad and _shaking_ and keeping Marceline underneath her. Not that she'd rather be anywhere else; Marceline rather liked the feeling of Bonnibel's mouth trailing burning hot kisses down from her mouth to her jaw.

It was only when Bonnibel's hands trailed down to the hem of her shirt, exploring the expanse of her stomach, that Marceline's breath hitched. "Bon?" Bonnie shifted ever so slightly, pushed herself up so that she was sat on Marceline's stomach and smiled through swollen lips.

"Too fast?" She asked carefully, glancing at the state of Marceline's shirt, now ridden up and creased. "I swear I wasn't going to… I wouldn't just-, not on my floor."

Marceline shot her a crooked smile. "It's cool, I just wasn't sure if you, uh-,"

Both of their heads shot round to look as the door opened to the left of them, Catherine's head peering round to stare wide eyed at her daughter. "Oh, sorry for intruding. I was going to ask if Marceline would like to stay for dinner?"

Bonnibel remained strangely calm considering their situation. "We were going to order pizza," She replied coolly, as if she wasn't on top of Marceline. "Is that cool with you and dad?"

"Of course, honey, we're having pasta if you change your mind." Catherine turned to leave before she span back on her heel and shoved her head back through the door. "Uh, don't- keep the door open. For now."

Bonnibel threw her head back and groaned, finally slipping off of Marceline's torso to step out of her room with her mother, throwing a smile back to her before she closed the door. Marceline sighed. _That could've been way more awkward, to be fair._

The door opened again not five minutes later, and remained opened as Bonnibel collapsed onto the beanbag chairs still beside the bed. "She doesn't trust us," She mumbled into the fabric. "I've told her not to tell your dad, but I don't think I'll be able to go to your place alone any time soon." Marceline remained staring blankly at the ceiling, the cold dampness on her jaw causing her to shiver. "Marcy?"

"Hm?"

"Can I use your phone to order the pizza? Mine just died." Bonnibel sighed, throwing her phone down onto the floor.

Marceline grabbed her own phone from her pocket, handing it to Bonnie with a slanted grin. "The password is red."

"That's scarily easy, Marcy, don't you have any better passwords?" At Marceline's eyeroll, Bonnibel glared softly and rang the pizza place.

"Hello, yeah, do you do pizza's that don't have tomato bases? Yes? Okay, thank you, my girlfriend is allergic and I don't want her to die." Marceline's face _and_ heart softened; Bonnibel had remembered her allergies. "Pepperoni and… what do you want, honey?"

"Pepperoni's good for me, we can share." Marceline shrugged. "Make it large, cold pizza is the best pizza."

"Okay, a large pepperoni pizza and potato wedges. How much would that be?" Bonnibel bit her lip adorably as she sat up on the beanbag, reaching onto her bedside table for her school notebook and pen so that she could write down the price. "Okay, thank you."

Marceline glanced at the piece of paper now in Bonnibel's hand. "Do you have any strawberry milk?" At Bonnibel's confused glance, Marceline assumed that she didn't. "I'm going to go buy myself some strawberry milk from the store," She huffed, finally getting up from the floor. "I'll be like ten minutes?"

* * *

"The pizza guy was cute," Marceline mused as she brought the food into Bonnibel's room. Her girlfriend levelled a glare at her. "What? He was. I totally have a thing for people who bring me food, damn."

"Of course," Bonnibel muttered, rolling her eyes. "Thanks for getting the food while I got changed."

She took a glance at Bonnibel's pyjamas as she passed her the pizza box, taking in the shorts and the baggy shirt that looked damn cute on her. "It's cool," Marceline muttered for the second time that evening. "You look adorable."

"You're biased." Bonnibel reminded her. "And I think you just like looking at my legs, Abadeer."

Marceline scoffed, opening the second box of wedges and popping one in her mouth. "Shut up and put a movie on, loser." _Even though you're damn right_.

"What do you want on?" Bonnibel asked, grabbing her laptop from somewhere on the other side of the bed. "I was watching the Jurassic Park movies last night, so that'll be easier to put on than the TV."

"Makes sense, go ahead." Marceline smiled fondly at Bonnibel's desktop wallpaper, the picture of them on her dads couch on her birthday, sleeping soundly. _Gotta pester Lady about getting that, need a better lockscreen on my phone_.

They watched two of the movies in relative silence, occasionally mumbling to one another and Bonnibel pointing out the mistakes like 'you can see that they're puppets in this scene' or 'there's a mic in the corner of the screen here'.

They could only really manage two movies, though, because by the time the credits started rolling for the second one Bonnibel was already yawning and had her head tucked comfortably in the crook of Marceline's neck.

"C'mon, nerd, let's sleep." Marceline shifted the boxes from the bed, quickly rushing downstairs to put the few slices in the fridge for morning before she came back to a very sleepy Bonnibel trying to strip off her shirt.

"Still… wearing my bra," The pinkette mumbled gently, cheeks flushing with colour as Marceline stepped closer with a smile. "It's uncomfy."

"Here, I'll-," She shuffled forwards toward the bed, hand reaching out behind Bonnibel's back. With expertise she unhooked Bonnie's bra without looking, and she even got to smirk smugly when she saw the shocked expression on her girlfriend's face.

"How'd you do that?"

Marceline shrugged a shoulder, looking away out of respect as Bonnibel took the bra off and threw it down the end of her bed with the rest of her clothes. "Marshall and I used to sleep at each others houses a lot, I didn't have a bathroom to get changed in at the time and I just got good at it I guess?"

Bonnibel smiled. "I'm tired."

"I know, Bonnie, go to sleep, I'm gonna get changed."

Marceline was vaguely aware of Bonnibel's eyes on her the entire time she shuffled off her jeans and unhooked her own bra, but when she turned back to get under the duvet, her girlfriend was already fast asleep.

 _I love you, Butler._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I wrote this chapter like a patchwork quilt. Not recommended.**

 **Anyway, follows directly on from the last chapter, for once. Enjoy!**

 **Content Warnings: NSFW THINGS, talks of the female anatomy (insert lenny face here), drugs, alcohol, Ash, Brad, New Character!, foreshadowing, weapons, violence, blood mention.**

* * *

Marceline awoke to the feeling of fingers running down her cheek, along her jawline, and up to her bottom lip. It was an odd sensation to wake up to, but a nice one to say the least. Cracking open an eye she was met with two blue ones staring right back at her, wide and curious and full of delight.

"G'mornin," Marceline managed to mumble out through sleep, bringing her face forwards to press into her girlfriends shoulder so that the sun from the window (which had probably been the thing that woke up her up) wasn't a problem.

Bonnibel smiled softly and removed her hand from Marceline's mouth, instead using it to brush the tangled mane from her friends face. "You always look so cute when you've just woken up." _That's gay, Bonnie._

"I'm not _cute._ I'm the definition of punk rock, babe." Marceline huffed, hefting herself up onto her elbows. Bonnibel's hand remained in her hair. "I do _hardcore drugs_ and I played in a _band_ -," Her insistent half teasing halted when Bonnie kissed her gently.

After a minute and a half of slow, sleepy kissing, Bonnibel pulled back ever so slightly to grin in that warm way she did. "You're _adorable_ , shut your mouth."

"Why don't you shut it for me?" Marceline shot back, laughing lightly when Bonnibel did just that. Marceline drew Bonnibel's bottom lip in between her teeth, savouring the noise that came from the other girls mouth. Bonnibel's leg shifted, moved to the other side of Marceline's torso, so that she was perched above Marceline yet again. This was different, though, instead of the bumpy beanbags or hard flooring, there was a soft mattress underneath Marceline and they were both still recovering from sleep. This was slow, deliberate, Bonnibel's hands were still in her hair and Marceline was happy to find out where her girlfriend would take this.

Unfortunately, Bonnibel pulled away and straightened her back, grinning tiredly as she brought her arms up to stretch. Marceline busied herself with staring at the expanse of stomach that had been revealed by Bonnie's shirt riding up. "You need to start packing," Bonnibel mumbled, keeping her arms up in the air for probably three seconds too long. _God bless this girl_. "I can help?"

"I have another idea of what you could help me with," Marceline muttered lowly, eyes sliding shut as she gave her girlfriend a sly smirk. "Y'know, considering I don't have to leave until later this afternoon."

Bonnibel scoffed, but leaned down to pepper kisses across her friends jawline all the same. "You- are- so- lucky- I- like- you-," She breathed between kisses before pulling back to hover over Marceline's mouth. The older girl cracked one eye open, dark green and shimmering with mischief.

"Prove it." It was a shot in the dark, really, they'd been dating for just under a month, Bonnibel was _way_ out of her league and Marceline was just _horny_. She put her hands onto Bonnie's lower back, opened both eyes, arched her brow and threw in a smirk.

"I think," Bonnibel began slowly, _deliberately_ , as she dropped her hands to Marceline's stomach. "That _you,_ " She prodded her abdomen. "Just wanna see me naked." _Oh_. Marceline opened her mouth to say something in reply, to explain that _yes_ but also _only if you're comfortable_ , but Bonnibel's hands had already made the short distance from Marceline's stomach to the hem of her shirt, and Marceline watched with a dry mouth as her friend began to pull it up. Marceline was very aware of the way she was biting her lip, and the fact that both of their bras were _innocently_ on the floor.

The expanse of Bonnie's stomach was covered lightly with the same freckles on her face, as Marceline had predicted months ago. Pale skin pulled taught over a ribcage as Marceline moved to touch her friends waist, above underwear and over the naked flesh of her hipbone. To make the moment less awkward, Marceline glanced up to see a very almost naked Bonnibel tangled in her shirt, blushing and trying to untangle herself.

Marceline snorted loudly and sat up to help her girlfriend, carefully moving limbs and hair and successfully removing the shirt. They both began laughing immediately when Marceline glanced up at her friends hair, and then unabashedly down at her chest.

"You're really good at this whole seductive thing, huh?" Marceline teased, prodding her friends bare torso. "If you wanted me to undress you, you could have just asked me."

Bonnibel glowered. "I'm practically naked, stop being mean to me or I'll put my clothes back on." _Oh, she's threatening me now? Sheesh._

Marceline wrapped her arms around Bonnibel's waist, resting her chin on her collarbone and smiling up at Bonnie's lovely freckled face. "I'll stop being mean if you get rid of that practically?" She teased once more before she began pressing kisses to Bonnibel's throat. There was a hum of _something_ from her friend, and Marceline allowed herself to be laid back onto the mattress, Bonnibel sprawled out on top of her.

"I'm a big old _virgin,_ Marcy," Bonnibel muttered into her hair. "I've never gotten this far with a girl before."

Marceline smiled quietly and flipped them over so that their positions were switched. "To be fair, neither have I. Girls intimidate me, they're so _pretty_ and I want them to punch me in the face." With that, Marceline pulled her shirt off over her head, throwing it somewhere behind her. She held back a laugh when she saw Bonnie's face. "It's just dawned on me, though, that we're both now nearly naked. I'm tired of being scared, Bonnie, of girls and their prettiness. Fuck them. _Fuck_ them, Bonnie."

Bonnibel swallowed. "Okay,"

The last strip of cloth on Marceline's body was carefully pulled away and discarded by trembling hands, and Bonnibel's breathing audibly hitched when Marceline's fingers hooked around the fabric of her own underwear. A pair of light blue briefs joined the now finished pile of clothes on the floor, and Marceline realised just how out of place she felt on top of her friend, freezing in place.

"Are you okay, Marcy?" Bonnibel asked gently, face flushed adorably. Marceline glanced down at her mouth, then further down to her chest, and then back up to her eyes.

She opened her mouth to reply, only for someone to knock on Bonnibel's door and pull them both out of their daze.

"Bonnibel, honey, are you both decent?" It was Bonnie's dad. Marceline exchanged a glance with her girlfriend, cheeks glowing red at the very thought of her dad walking in on them, and bit her lip in thought. _Definitely not decent, no._

Marceline managed to pull their shirts off the floor and they both yanked them on as fast as they could, Bonnibel tugging Marceline back down to the mattress so that she could throw an arm around her.

The door creaked open ever so slightly and Liam peeked his head through cautiously. Noticing that Bonnibel had closed her eyes, Marceline followed suit.

"Honey?" Liam shook his daughter gently. "You told me to wake you up at twelve," _Oh shit, it's that late?_ "C'mon, Bonnibel." Another shake, and Bonnibel pretended to wake up with a mumble into Marceline's shoulder. "You should wake your friend up, Hudson said he's going to be here in five."

And then came the most awkward moment of Marceline's life. Liam shifted the duvet that was covering both of their bare lower halves, and sat down next to his daughter with an oblivious smile. "Dad, I'm up. Leave."

"Catherine and I need to talk to you, actually. About Marceline," _Uh, when am I supposed to wake up?_ "We know you're both quite close, but I thought that we agreed to you not developing any romantic relationships with anyone until after you've graduated?"

"It's not that we don't agree with it, honey," Catherine's voice was there, too. "But… You should focus on your education before anything else."

" _Okay_ , fine. I get it, can you guys go now?" Bonnibel persisted, pressing her bare legs against Marceline's in an attempt to move further away from her dad.

Liam remained on the bed. " _Are_ you dating Marceline? Because we won't force you to stop seeing her," He continued.

Bonnibel groaned. " _Yes_ we're dating and _no_ we're not decent, so please just get out of my room and we can talk later."

Marceline cracked open her eye just in time to see Liam's face flush and watch as he darted up and away from his daughter. Catherine gave her daughter a nod.

"Door open, forever." She muttered. "Until you decide to move out."

Marceline decided to wait just a few more minutes after they left to open her eyes, but when she did she was greeted with a half naked Bonnibel huffing and pulling underwear out of her top drawer. _So much for midday sex, I guess._

"Pass me my jeans and some underwear?" Marceline asked, a little pissed that her time with Bonnie had been cut short.

 _Maybe I gotta wait until I come back, absence doth make the heart grow fonder and all that nonsense._

* * *

Sitting in her car, clutching the steering wheel out of anxiety, and trying to block out the fact that all her friends were surrounding the front of her vehicle was not something that Marceline thought she'd have been doing that afternoon. Bonnibel was at the top of Marceline's mental 'to do' list at that moment, and going to see her ex was at the very bottom. _Figures_.

Going back felt _so fucking_ strange now that Marceline had officially titled Oakdale as her new home. Well, since she'd labelled Bonnibel as her home, which in turn made everything else just _not_. Calling her house her home felt wrong, and saying that she was going home to see Keila and Marshall was just a _lie_.

Everything felt strange.

"Make sure you stop if you get tired," Her father was saying to her through her open car window, hands also in a clutching position. _Is he worried about me?_ "And make sure you text one of us to let you know you get there okay? Some of the roads are iced up and-,"

" _Dad_ , I get it, I won't die on you, alright?" She sent him a crooked smile before glancing behind him at her friends. "I'll be back in a few days, make sure Bonnie doesn't miss me too much until I get back, yeah?"

She didn't wait for the farewells, didn't wait to watch her dad wave at her. She _did_ focus in on Bonnibel as she backed out the driveway, though, and gave her a half hearted smile when she set off down the road.

 _It took us two and a half hours to get from there to Oakdale, I'm sure I can get there quicker than my_ dad _. Ugh._

The drive was a boring one, mostly because Marceline refused to put on the CD player in case some random pop song started playing from one of Bonnibel's albums. The very thought made her shiver and she was forced to hum a low tune for the entire two hours it took her to get from Point A to Point B.

 _I hate this town_ , Marceline thought bitterly as she hunched over the steering wheel. A sign saying ' _Welcome To RedGate_ ' greeted her accordingly as she drove into her old home and Marceline was reminded why she hated this place more than the others.

The entire area screamed 'All the residents here do drugs and own a gun', not to mention that the actual town was practically in the middle of _no fucking where_. Marceline was just glad that she remembered Marshall's house number; having to ask the locals for directions was the equivalent to asking someone with a knife to stab her. _Better than having to see my pothead exboyfriend and my lovely best friend who I didn't get into a fight with during my last week here, no sir, nope I did not_.

She pulled up outside Marshall's little shitty bungalow with a frown, noticing that the old blinds had been replaced with cardboard and the mailbox was bent into one of the neighbours overgrown bushes. _This house? My mental state as of current, not gonna lie._

Marceline trudged up the path and stood on the small porch, already regretting her visit just from having looked at the state of the place. She knocked twice.

There was a muffled shuffling from somewhere within, a sound that resembled something fragile being knocked over carelessly, and then her absolute babe of an ex boyfriend swung the door open and enveloped her in a sweaty, weed smelling hug.

"Marcymoo, you're back!" _That fucking nickname_. There was a scraggly attempt of a beard on Marshall's chin, and his eyes were already red from _whatever it was he'd been smoking_. He still looked like himself though, deep brown mop on his head and a shit eating smile on his face.

Marceline took a moment to glance over his shoulder, then, to spot a darker skinned woman standing a little down the messy hallway. They locked eyes for no longer than ten seconds before Marceline sourly looked away and pulled away from her ex. "Hey Marshall," She finally greeted, trying her hardest not to think about Keila watching them. _What is she even doing at Marshall's anyway? Unless they actually_ have _been screwing_.

"You want a smoke?" Marshall offered, grinning lopsidedly.

Marceline had not smoked a cigarette in almost two years and she _knew_ that she really shouldn't say yes to Marshall's offer, but the temptation had been niggling away at the back of her brain for a while now. She hated the stuff; she could very easily stop smoking if she found that she was buying her own pack later on.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Marshall took out his cigarettes, offering one to her as they stood awkwardly on the porch. "Keila, d'you have my lighter?" He called over his shoulder, cigarette dangling from his mouth as he patted his jeans.

Keila _finally_ stepped out of the hallway and passed Marshall his lighter, the one with the naked woman on it that Marceline had gotten him for his birthday. _He still has that? Damn_. Marceline lit her first cigarette of two years and took a long slow drag, exhaling and watching as the smoke carefully blew away into the evening sky. She found herself relaxing almost immediately.

"How've you been?" Marceline broke the silence between the three of them, shuffling over to lean against the already rickety fence that bordered off the porch from the front yard. "It's been forever," She refrained herself from saying 'too long' because it wasn't long enough for Marceline. She at least wanted to wait five years before she saw them again.

"Started our business again," Marshall muttered around his cigarette. _That explains why the hallway is full of boxes_. "Keila's uh…"

"I'm pregnant." Keila spoke, glancing over at Marshall. "Five months," And in the dim lighting, Marceline could barely make out a bump at her old friends stomach. _Definitely bonking, then._

"Wait," Marceline paused. "Five months? You were screwing my boyfriend behind my back?"

"You said it yourself, Marceline, he wasn't your boyfriend." _Just a shitty cover up for my dad to convince him that he hadn't seen me and my best friend making out on our couch. Yeah, a real good relationship_.

Marceline took another long drag, eyes narrowing at her ex friends stomach. "I'm… glad. Maybe you'll both finally realise that you're shitty human beings and that a _drug den_ isn't a place to raise a kid."

"Speaking of relationships _,_ " Marshall was quick to change the topic, elbowing Marceline's stomach with another grin. "How's your mega hot girlfriend?"

 _Bonnibel_. "We almost had sex," She shrugged a shoulder, watching as Keila shifted uncomfortably at the statement. "We're looking for apartments to move in together next year."

"U-Haul?" Keila snorted. "Please, lesbians need to realise that it never works."

"I'm pretty sure Bonnie was thinking about asking me to move in with her before we started dating, actually." Marceline shot back a reply. "So fuck you."

Marshall cleared his throat. "Anyway, we were gonna head to a party a few houses down." He nodded vaguely in a direction that meant nothing to Marceline. "You coming or do you want to stay here?"

 _An actual party?_ "Fuck yeah I'm coming with you."

* * *

"That's Tyrone, he's a regular customer and his girlfriend is really nice. Says she'll babysit for us if we need it," Marshall yelled over the current pounding of bass music coming from the huge speakers on a kitchen table. Marceline had been offered free alcohol the moment she'd walked in, and there were half naked pretty girls asking for her number in every room she walked in. _Pretty solid house party_. "You remember Bella, right? That's her over there," Marshall pointed to Marceline's old school crush, currently on the knee of a unnamed brown haired boy. "Don't know who she's with, oh- that's Braco," Another brunette guy was pointed to, but Marceline was more drawn to the guy he was stood next to. _What's a guy like Brad Simmons doing in a place like RedGate?_ "He and that guy over there are regular customers, one of their friends have been causing us some serious trouble though, tries to buy in bulk. But, crazy numbers bulk."

"Sounds like a douchebag," Marceline grumbled under her breath, keeping her eyes fixed on Brad. "Don't… Don't get involved with them, though. Well more involved than what you are now."

"You know Braco?" Marshall asked, swiping two bottles of beer from a cooler nearby. "He seems pretty harmless on his own,"

Marceline shook her head. "I'm talking about Brad, his friend over there. Real idiot, don't talk to him other than when you're loading his rich ass up with drugs, yeah?"

"Aye aye, captain."

"Anyway," Marceline rolled her eyes, plucking one of the beers from her ex's hands. "I'm gonna party, you go see if they have any harder stuff than this piss."

With that, Marceline threw her arms up in the air and stepped into the crowd of dancing people. Many of them seemed to be borderline blackout drunk, most of them were high on whatever the party was supplying, and Marceline mostly just wanted to get closer to Brad.

"Abadeer?" An all too familiar gruff voice came from behind her just as she caught sight of Brad talking to one of the half naked girls. A hand reached out to grab her wrist and Marceline found herself _very_ close to Ash. "What the _fuck_ are you doing all the way out here? Shouldn't you be with Elle?"

"Hey, _Ash_." Marceline ignored his questions, and purposely moved closer so that she was all up in his face. _What a dickhead_. "Fancy meeting you here, with _Brad._ A date, perhaps?"

Ash's face contorted into anger, and then confusion as Marceline wrapped his arms around his neck. "Are you drunk?" _I wish._

"Just… Tell me something. Who tipped you off about the missing people at the mill?" She asked, trying her hardest to get him to move with her towards Brad.

"Why don't you leave that alone? You've no idea what you're getting into here, kid." Ash growled back in reply, untangling Marceline's arms from around his neck. "Scram."

Marceline was about to shoot back a reply, but then she caught sight of his hand wrapped around a knife secured in his jacket and she swallowed. "I just… don't believe you could've gotten that information without _knowing_ something." She said carefully, instead.

"Oh trust me, I know a fuck ton of things. You see the guy next to Brad? He messaged me with the location that night, he was one of the missing people. You really want to know what goes on around Oakdale and Greyport? Go for it, ask away. But on your head be it," With that, Ash gave her a wolfish smile and shoved her back into the crowd of sweaty bodies and beer.

Marceline found Brad and Braco stood next to a now empty coolers, sipping out of paper cups as they scanned the mass of people in front of them. Brad didn't notice her immediately, probably because he hadn't been expecting her to be there, but upon locking eyes with her his jaw set.

"Abadeer," He greeted. "Enjoying the party?"

Marceline bristled, mostly at the fact that this idiot had the audacity to call her by her last name, and glided closer to him. "I wanna talk about the mill." She muttered. "I know Braco tipped Ash off on the location but I have a funny feeling it wasn't just a normal missing persons case."

"Fuck you," Brad spat in her face. "Braco was _stabbed_ three _fucking_ times and you think you can come here and point fingers?"

"Why are you two hours away from Oakdale, then? Or, better yet, why're you buying a shit ton of drugs off of my ex?" She shoved Brad backwards against the wall, and Braco stepped backwards in fear.

"You and Lee were screwing?" Brad guffawed. "Oh, Abadeer, that's priceless, I-," Marceline's fingers gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to her as she growled lowly.

"Answer me, jackass."

"Why're you so bothered?"

"I don't know, I guess getting death threats from an unknown number makes you a little more aware of what's going on," At Brad's little smirk, Marceline had a pretty good idea that it _was_ him and Ash who had taken the photo. "Where was it taken, huh? 'cause now that I think about it, background looks pretty mill like."

Something hard and small hit the side of her head, then, and Marceline's vision went scarily blurry as she let go of Brad's shirt, stumbling and falling to the ground out of shock. "You're in way over your head, bitch." Ash growled, before giving her a kick to the temple. The last thing Marceline felt was her eye hitting the corner of a table or something, and then she blacked out.

* * *

Marceline awoke to a dull throbbing in her head and a searing pain in her nose. She found that one of her eyes was swollen shut and she was on the couch in Marshall's living room.

"You awake?" Keila's voice filtered in from the doorway to the kitchen behind her. "I have ice and a couple of painkillers," Marceline threw her arm over the back of the couch, palm up to the ceiling. The ice was handed to her first.

"Thanks Kei," Marceline mumbled as she pressed the cold icepack to her throbbing temple, taking the painkillers from her friend as she sat at the chair beside her. "You've always been the one to help patch me up after a fight, huh?"

"Damn right I have been," Keila grumbled. "You can't keep your ass in line for one minute, can you?"

Marceline cracked a smile and swallowed the painkillers. "Not my fault this time, Ash and his goons are out to get me."

"What did _you_ do to anger Ash Mercer and those clowns, anyway?" Marshall was at the door, now, sober and nursing a hangover. _Note to self: Ash's last name is pretty normal._

"Stole his ex girlfriend, apparently." She replied. "And I punched him and beat up Brad. No big deal."

Marshall groaned. "They're gonna kill us, we're all doomed."

"Just… lay low or some shit," The ice was helping the pain in her head considerably, but it still stung when she sat up. _Oh, that's a shit ton of blood on my shirt. Did he break my fucking nose in revenge?_

"I guess we could go to Keila's aunts place," Marshall agreed, settling down on the arm of the sofa. "She's pretty chill. Hey, your phone was going off all last night, too. I put it in the bathroom to charge." He paused, glancing at Marceline with a grimace. "You look way worse in the daylight, fuck. Go clean yourself up."

Marceline was surprised she remembered the way into the bathroom in the state she was, but when she glanced at her reflection in the mirror she realised that Ash deserved way fucking worse than a broken nose. Her left eye was completely swollen shut and bruised a nasty purple colour, and the dried blood trail from her nose to her shirt made her look even worse. _I look like a freaking zombie. Holy shit._

She grabbed her phone from Marshall's charging station, holding down the power button to turn it back on so that she could tap in her password.

 ** _MISSED CALLS:_** _Dad (3), Jake (2), Finn (2), Bonnie (7)._

 ** _MESSAGES:_** _Dad (11), Phoebe (6), Lady (3), Jake (4), Finn (3), Bonnie (9)._

Marceline internally yelled at herself for forgetting to text her friends that she was okay, and knowing already that it was going to be difficult hiding a black eye from her friends and family, she took a very quick selfie of herself with her thumb and added the message 'I'm fine dw, I'm coming home soon' before she sent it to everyone.

 _Fucking Ash, I'm gonna fuck his face up for good._

* * *

 ** _Ash (00:57):_** _Abadeer is going to mess everything up._

 ** _Ash (1:03):_** _I'm going to fuck her up._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Before we begin, the song in this chapter is Sleep Song by Frankie Cosmos and there's a bass cover on youtube by heather hardy (my god I love her). She covered a few mitski songs including Forever Francis, too! Highly recommend listening to that cover instead of the original for this fic, as the original isn't solely bass.**

 **Anyway, The Hiatus Of Doom is over and, yes, was actually planned. Wanted to think about the tail end of this whole ordeal, plan out what happens to the characters. Maybe there's a special chapter 24 planned somewhere, hm? Anyway, I had exams and I played fortnite and wrote this up over the past month. It's around 5k words long. The second half of this fic is darker, slightly smuttier, and hopefully twice as exciting. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **December 25th 2016**

Marceline was grateful when she woke up on Christmas day. Mostly she was grateful that Ash hadn't stabbed her the week prior, but her sore and bruised face said otherwise. She kind of wished it _wasn't_ Christmas, though, because her friends had invited her to _ice skating_ and that just seemed embarrassing on it's own.

She and her dad never really celebrated Christmas as much as she'd liked; Hudson _hated_ Christmas, which didn't go well with Marceline's love for the festivities. _Always one to piss me off_ , Marceline thought to herself bitterly, kicking the bedsheets off of her body to roll out of bed.

It had barely snowed, she noted as she glanced out her window, meaning that Christmas day didn't feel like Christmas day. Marceline wished for it to snow some more, just at least enough for the roads to be covered with a dusty layer.

She changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy plain white shirt, mentally hearing Lady's remarks on how her wardrobe was mostly just black skinny jeans. _She isn't wrong_. The last part of her 'festive outfit' was still in a box labelled _'old junk'_ on the top of her closet. Being the tall person she was, standing on her tiptoes was enough for her to grab the box and pull it down, thankful when nothing else came crashing down with it.

"Marceline, one of your friends is here," _Oh, that's odd._ Placing the box down on her bed, she grabbed her phone to check for messages, sighing when she realised it was dead.

"I'll be down in ten minutes," She called back in reply, digging around in the box for what she wanted. Her Santa hat was bundled up in the bottom, slumped depressingly underneath her old skateboard trucks. "Fuck yeah," Marceline tugged it on over her tangled mane before putting the box back on top of her closet.

Despite the coldness of the floor against her bare feet and the fact that her father was probably _brooding_ in the kitchen, Marceline was uncharacteristically jolly. She found Phoebe in the living room, cradling a Starbucks in her hands and dressed in a new leather jacket. _And Lady gets on at me for owning too many skinny jeans? Phoebe owns at least eighteen leather jackets._

"Hey, Abadeer. I thought I'd come over here considering my family don't really celebrate." Phoebe greeted with a small smile, glancing at the few presents piled in the corner of the room and eyeing the hat on her friends head. "Is that cool with you?"

"Hell yeah," Marceline replied genuinely, not really used to having anyone with her when she opened her Christmas gifts but grateful for Phoebe's presence all the same. "We can drive down to the ice rink together, anyway. I'm gonna need someone to be my personal GPS."

Phoebe laughed softly. "You still don't know your way around, huh? Hasn't Bonnie given you a tour yet?"

"Nope," Marceline popped the 'P'. "We usually study and go on dates and make out and…" She trailed off as she sat cross legged in front of the colourfully wrapped presents. "Y'know, gay shit," Phoebe snorted. "What's wrong with gay shit?"

"Nothing," The red head laughed. "It's just that when I first met you, I never thought I'd see _you_ sat in front of your nicely wrapped Christmas presents wearing a Santa hat. Being all smitten about your girlfriend, might I add."

Marceline rolled her eyes and reached her hand out to take one of the more smaller gifts, giving it a gentle shake before she began to unwrap it. "Should I be expecting anyone else to come over before we go skating, or is it just you?" Phoebe opened her mouth to reply, but found that a doorbell had beat her to it. Marceline's eyebrows shot up. "Sheesh, I was _joking_." Phoebe mumbled something about a group chat and Marceline knew she had every right to be suspicious.

Marceline stumbled to the door, kind of regretting not putting on socks, and swung it open to find Finn and Bonnibel stood on the front steps, Jake and Lady walking idly up the path together behind them. Their faces were flush from the cold, and Finn was grinning his boyish smile.

"Hey, Marceline," Lady greeted. "Hope you don't mind us dropping in. None of us are fans of the Christmas dinners our parents put on and we opened our presents _hours_ ago."

Marceline blinked. "I woke up like twenty minutes ago, guys. Give me time to wake up."

As they entered her house, Finn pointed into the living room. "Phoebe's here. Why is Phoebe here?"

"We're having an affair," Marceline joked monotonously with a roll of her eyes, moving so that Jake and Lady could move past her to get into the living room. She gave them both a warm smile and noted that Lady had a bag of presents with her. _Pleasant_. "Sorry, Finn. I'm stealing all your women." Finn elbowed her gently, but made his way towards Phoebe with determination. Marceline turned to greet Bonnie with a warm hug.

"Hey, dork. Nice hat." Bonnibel mumbled into her shoulder. "Sorry for just showing up like this. Are those your presents? Oh, did you get my text last night?"

The still sleepy cogs in Marceline's head turned. "Uh, not a dork, thank you my mum got it me like ten years ago, it's fine really, yes those are mostly all mine, no my phone has been dead all night and I forgot to charge it."

Bonnibel's face split into a grin as she leaned up to kiss her. "Dork," And then her eyes were drawn to the half unwrapped present in Marceline's hand, and her eyes narrowed. "Socks?"

"Dad gets me and Marshall socks every year," Marceline explained, leading her girlfriend into the living room. "Started off as a joke and now I'm extremely grateful. God, I'm boring."

As soon as she stepped foot in the living room, Phoebe and Finn pulled her back out into the hallway and closed the door behind them. Great.

"You wanna get dirt on Ash?" Finn hissed lowly.

Marceline's eyes shot up in interest. "Uh, fuck yeah I want dirt on Ash." She replied. "But how the fuck do you two have it?"

"We don't," Phoebe began, glancing at the floor. "But I know Ash is on a contract with the school which means he can't leave his lessons. Finn has a double lesson with him on Tuesdays, so the first week back we were thinking that if you and I ditch those two periods and go to his apartment we could find out some shit."

"Sounds convincing," Marceline thought about it for a moment, mulling it over in her mind. "How the fuck are we supposed to get in his apartment?"

"Brad gave me a key to his apartment for prom stuff. Turns out they're now living together while Ash attends school here, I gotta give the key back that week anyway so it works in our favour." This is some mission impossible shit.

"I'm in,"

"Alright, idiots, stop being antisocial out there and come join us in the living room like normal folk." Jake's voice called. Marceline rolled her eyes, opening the door despite herself. Yeah, normal people use the word folk regularly.

Phoebe and Finn followed close behind as Marceline wandered back into the room, finally putting the socks she had opened down into a preplanned 'opened' pile. There was still a good three more presents to go, one of which looked vaguely skateboard shaped. She hummed and reached out for it.

"Hey, Finn, did you like the present I got you?" She muttered idly, unwrapping what she had guessed correctly. The deck was pretty sweet though, one of the newer revive decks. From behind her, she heard Jake say something about the taco print.

"Hell yeah," Came Finn's energetic reply. "I'm gonna get Jake around the house all the time now,"

Marceline snorted. "I wouldn't. Your brother could whoop your ass into next week." The skateboard went into the other pile.

Truthfully, she hadn't known what to get the group for Christmas. For Finn she just got him one of the more expensive nerf guns with a few hundred pellets, knowing how easily they could get lost around the house. Phoebe had received a few patches for her jackets and school bag, all related to her favourite bands after having asked Finn about them. Jake and Lady had gotten a joint gift, one of those fancy light boxes and a jokey sex book labelled 'How to mate with your mate'. Bonnibel had gotten a very expensive microscope.

The next present was an odd one. Her dad, the same dad that had continuously told her that 'rock music was too loud and obnoxious for anyone to listen to', had gotten her two tickets to a Royal Blood concert. She'd have to ask Bonnibel to accompany her, or maybe Phoebe now that Marceline knew they were into similar bands.

The last remaining present she opened was a good stack of seven or more CD's that Marceline had requested Hudson get her for Christmas. She was happily surprised to find that they were all right, and none of them had to go back to be exchanged for the correct one.

Marceline very nearly jumped out of her skin when Lady thrusted the bag of presents in front of her face, dropping them onto her lap with a 'From us'. She thanked them and took a glance inside.

"Who got me coal?" She muttered, not sure whether to be amused or to be insulted. Finn's smile grew considerably. "I'm no humbug, Finn. I hope that's not the only thing you got me."

"No, I got you a rather hefty gift card for the music store. You can probably buy like… three packs of new strings? They're whack expensive."

Marceline snorted. "My axe bass probably costs more than a lot of things in that store, Finn. I doubt they have the correct strings anyway. I'll buy a ukulele or something, though. Thank you."

She pulled out the gift card and set it aside, reaching in for another small item in the bag. "Who the fuck bought me this and how the hell do you know about my addiction?"

"You're addicted to piercings?" Phoebe laughed. "I did, though, I only ever see you with that tacky spike on your tongue. Now you have a middle finger in your mouth, use it wisely."

"Piercings are hot," Marceline shot back in reply, already taking out her spiked tongue piercing to put in the new one. "Any anyway, I have way more I just… don't wear them."

She stuck her tongue out at Phoebe with a grin. "How's it look?"

"Very you," Phoebe replied. "Open the wrapped one now, it's from Lady and Jake."

Marceline did as she was told and found herself holding a fancy looking notebook and other various stationary. She gave the couple a confused glance.

"We're fed up of Bonnie complaining that you never have your school stuff, so we spent a lot of money on quality paper and things, enjoy." Lady explained as Marceline searched through the various pens and different pencils.

"Will do," Marceline laughed. "I have a feeling I'm going to use these for something else, though. Writing lyrics on bits of scrap paper is infuriating after a while,"

Jake blinked in surprised. "You write songs?"

"Occasionally," Marceline nodded carefully, bobbing her head as she clasped her hand around a little box at the bottom of the bag, glancing at Bonnie who had been very quiet throughout the entire twenty minutes they had been there. "They're not great, used to write for my band though. Keila helped a lot when they were ramble-y and- Oh," She'd opened the box, black and fancy looking, to reveal a little silver ring with a gorgeous emerald cut. There was no way Bonnibel had spent that much money on her. No way.

"It's a promise ring," Bonnie explained softly, shuffling up beside her on the floor. "I was shopping while you went to see Marshall and I saw the emerald and it reminded me of your eyes, so I went in to buy it but it already had a reservation on it. Long story short, I asked the woman to make me an exact replica. Costed me around the same amount the microscope costed you. I'd say we're even," Bonnibel kissed Marceline's cheek, who was still trying to take in the fact that Bonnie had spent a lot of money because of a ring that reminded her of her eyes, and smiled shyly. "You don't have to agree to it-, I mean the whole tradition of promise rings is very heteronormative and we've been dating for barely-,"

Marceline cut her off with a chaste kiss. "No, I-I promise, I don't care."

The ice skating rink was forgotten about when Marceline whipped out a movie and made everyone hot chocolates.

* * *

 **December 31st 2016**

The street that Bonnibel lived on was usually pretty empty, save for the two households on the road that chose to park on the street on weekdays. Rolling up on New Years, nervously chewing her lip as she leaned over her steering wheel, Marceline was met with a struggle to find a place to park. She reluctantly went with parking on a different street all together, walking back down to the Butler residence in the cold. She immediately took note of the few stragglers in the front yard, spotting Jake amongst some of them as he sipped on some fancy looking drink. There was light music coming from the backyard, as well as cheers and laughter. Marceline felt quite out of place.

Jake noticed her the moment she stepped foot on the premises, sending her a little smile and a nod, and Marceline suddenly realised that their friend group had other friends. A few boys wearing green and black varsity jackets were surrounding him, one of which had an arm slung around the shoulders of a girl from one of Marceline's lessons. _Fuckin' weird to see him hanging out with anyone other than Bonnie and the others._

Opening the little wooden gate down the side of the house, Marceline was met with at least a group of fifty different people, some of which she recognised as students and others she assumed were just neighbours or friends of the family.

"Thought you'd ditched us for a minute, Abadeer." Marceline span on her heel, eyes going from the little buffet table to the direction in which Phoebe's teasing voice had come from. _She looks fucking odd without a leather jacket on_ , was the first thought that came to Marceline's mind as she glanced at the dress that her friend was wearing, burnt orange in colour and falling loosely at her knees. It was simple, but definitely Phoebe.

Marceline blinked at her smirking friend. "Trouble parking," She mumbled, waving her car keys around just for emphasis.

"Might wanna throw those in the bowl over there," Phoebe nodded in a vague direction, but the sentence alone was enough to confuse Marceline. _She's joking, right?_ "Joking, of course," _Thank god_. "But Bonnie will want to know that you're here, right?"

Marceline nodded dumbly, because honestly she felt very out of place at a new years party and she felt like it was _very_ obvious. She appreciated the little shove towards the house from Phoebe, though, and began to make her way into the Butler household.

" _Marceline_!" Not before Finn could run up to her side, however. "When did you get here, dude?"

"Uh, just now? Is that a _suit_?"

"My brothers," Finn confirmed gleefully. "Doesn't it look awesome?" The blue tie did go with his eyes, in all fairness, so Marceline just nodded and continued to reach for the door handle.

Lady opened it from the other side. _Of course. Can't I just see my girlfriend before interacting with my friends?_ "Hey, Lady," Marceline greeted with a little wave. "Where's Bon?"

"Living room," Lady replied. "You look nice."

Heat flooded to Marceline's cheeks almost as soon as the compliment left Lady's mouth and the tall girl found herself glancing down at her own outfit for the first time that evening. Dresses were usually itchy. This one? Not so much, actually. It was black and simple, pretty plain on the outside with a red lining on the inside of the skirt. She had _tights_ on too. _Jesus, Daddy really did blow some cash on this thing. I can actually breathe and move and shit._

Lady put a hand on her shoulder. "Go woo your lady friend, Abadeer."

Marceline thanked her friends and stepped into the kitchen, thankful for the warmth indoors. Catherine was talking to Lady's parents and a few other adults at the other end of the room, and Marceline found herself smiling when she looked up and greeted her.

"Dad, no," A familiar voice whined from the open living room door. "You're doing it all wrong. Just let me-,"

"Bonnibel," Came Liam's joy filled voice, rich with laughter. "We don't want a repeat of last year." Marceline hesitated outside before going in, finding Bonnibel facing the door, Liam fiddling with the back of her lovely red dress.

Marceline cleared her throat. "What happened last year?" Watching Bonnibel's eyes go from grouchy, annoyed and looking over her shoulder to wide and sparkling (and taking in _every inch_ of her form in a dress) was enough to make Marceline outwardly sigh in delight.

"Bonnibel had a wardrobe malfunction," Liam replied, mirth still lining his voice. "I'm surprised no one has told you about it; it was the talk of the town for at least a month."

Bonnibel elbowed her father lightly with a huff. "That's putting it lightly. I'm sure the guys enjoyed the whole ordeal." _That_ insinuation made Marceline feel a little nauseous, even if Liam's little laugh made the situation seem a little better.

"Oh come on now, honey, you know I would've dealt with them if need be." The zip seemed to finally go up, and Liam busied himself with tying the lace straps of Bonnibel's dress before he continued. "The best part was when your mother tried to help you out," He laughed again.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and stepped away the moment Liam's hands left the fabric of her dress. "At least she tried. _Someone_ stood there laughing near the buffet table and finished off the cocktail sausages." She jabbed back in jest.

"I hate to ruin this little moment," Marceline stepped in. "But you look really pretty and I wanna show you off to everyone before I get up and sing in front of everyone like a _tool_."

"You are _not_ a _tool_ ," Bonnibel said through a laugh that Marceline was sure she was trying to hold back. "I'm glad you came," She said once Liam left the room, heading on into the party still laughing.

Marceline cracked a smile. "Thought I'd bail?"

"Honestly? Yeah."

"I wouldn't miss you in a dress, Bon," Marceline spoke softly, taking in the dip of her girlfriends neck and the way her cheeks coloured at the compliment. "Not for the world."

Bonnibel's smile grew despite the blush that had now settled in her cheeks. "Oh? And what about you? I would not have pegged you for a little black dress type," She teased.

Marceline rolled her eyes and took Bonnibel's hand in her own. "My father got it me for a special occasion. Thinks I'm gonna be charming the socks of some guys I assume, little does he know I'm gonna be making out with the towns saint at midnight." She winked, pressed a kiss to Bonnibel's temple, and grinned in pride because _Bonnibel_ was her girlfriend and she loked _stunning_ in her dress.

"C'mon, gorgeous, I think our friends are outside." Bonnie sang as she led Marceline out of the living room.

Marceline blinked. "Yeah, they are," She sent another smile Catherine's way as they passed through the kitchen before her brain fully processed the sentence. "Did you just call me _gorgeous_?"

Bonnibel grinned and twirled the moment she stepped outside, nodding as she latched back onto Marceline's hand and tugged her towards a table crammed with drinks and punch. It was about the loveliest thing Marceline had seen. Ever.

"Look at you two," Came Lady's voice. Marceline didn't really bother looking up from Bonnie's smile, and instead found herself being handed a drink from the right of her. "Best dressed couple here in my opinion."

Bonnibel tutted. "What about you and Jake? Very dashing, the both of you." Bonnibel's eyes focussed just over Lady's shoulder, then, and her expression became sour; the smile on her face becoming forced and awkward.

A familiar tuft of bleach blonde hair had made an appearance, it seemed. Marceline wanted to throttle Ash in front of everyone, really show him what she was made of, but instead took hold of Bonnibel's hand.

"Elle, do you know where Brad is?" He asked, hands in the pockets of a jacket similar to the ones the boys who were speaking to Jake were wearing, only his was blue and black.

Bonnie shrugged a freckled shoulder. "Try keeping your boyfriend on a leash, and all that nonsense," She muttered under her breath, giving the hand in hers a squeeze. Marceline had the faintest idea that Ash had heard her, but was surprised when he remained calm and steadfast. "No, I don't know where your pet is. Try a busy street?"

"Har har," Ash drawled, grey irises finally coming up to meet Marceline's in a sharp glare. They stared at each other for a while, until Lady cleared her throat and Ash turned to scowl at her instead.

"I'd try the front yard, most of the members of the schools sports teams are out there." It seemed she just wanted him gone. "I personally haven't seen him myself, though." At that Ash seemed a little disappointed, but he left the table and followed Lady's directions anyway.

"Why were either of them invited?" Marceline found herself asking, glancing over her shoulder as Ash left.

Bonnibel shrugged a shoulder. "It's an open party, I guess? My parents invite most of my year and their parents." There was a slight pause, as Bonnibel's hand left Marceline's and Lady sipped at her drink. "I assumed your dad would be here, actually."

"Father will be here soon, he's bringing my bass." Marceline promised. "Gives us more time to dance and stuff, yeah?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'stuff', Abadeer," Bonnibel muttered, narrowing her eyes. Marceline just gave her a lopsided grin. "But I don't dance and you were already late."

Those were both (probably) true statements, but Marceline still took Bonnie's arm and led her further into the garden. The big smirk on her face couldn't really be helped, either, not when Bonnibel was smiling at her like she was the world.

All thoughts of Ash and the missing people had vanished from her mind. Her brain could finally give one hundred percent focus on her girlfriend. Marceline still felt like she was doing something naughty when she put her hands on Bonnibel's waist, felt like they were doing something bad when Bonnie stepped close to lock her hands at the nape of her neck.

Liam and Catherine hadn't come out of the house, her father hadn't made his big entrance yet, their friends were all conversing with the crowd around them, they were safe. Truthfully, Marceline wanted nothing more than to stay in that moment forever, but her phone buzzed in the discreet pocket by her hip and she knew it had to be her father telling her that he had her bass.

Bonnibel pouted the moment Marceline stepped backwards. "Your dad's no fun," She complained loudly. "Do you want me to set up the stage?"

 _Stage_. Marceline's gaze followed Bonnibel's thumb, to a shoddy little wooden platform in the corner of the garden with a two amps either side. It was big enough for a band, sure, but Marceline had performed in a _theatre_ and had to hold back a snort when she caught sight of it.

"Go ahead," She muttered around her amusement. "I'll go let my dad in and grab my baby,"

Her father was stood awkwardly near the gate, instrument case in hand and looking about as if he was on the watch list or something. Marceline wouldn't put it past him.

"Are you staying?" She muttered when he passed her the bass. Greetings weren't really their thing. "Catherine did invite you, you know."

"I can hang around for twenty minutes," Hudson mumbled, checking his watch. _Great, he'll be around to watch me fucking sing_. "Are you staying here all night?"

"Probably," Marceline bobbed her head. "If they'll have me. Bonnie wants to go over a few things for next term." That seemed like an acceptable excuse, if her fathers nod was anything to go by. "Thanks for bringing my bass, anyway."

She left Hudson alone and lugged her bass back over to Bonnibel, now fiddling with wires and a microphone and looking very out of place.

"Does the brainlord need _my_ expertise?" Marceline said, setting her bass down on the stage as she crouched down beside the power strip. From behind her, Bonnibel scoffed.

"I've been in charge of setting up the stage for the past four years, Abadeer, I'm pretty sure I know how to handle setting up a microphone."

Instead of replying, Marceline just raised her brows and glanced back down at the cables. She flicked the on switch with her middle finger and smirked triumphantly when the light came on.

Bonnibel spluttered. "I knew it hadn't been switched on, I was just testing you." Was her excuse. "And anyway, you need to plug your bass in and tune it." With that she left in a hurry, leaving Marceline to snicker and take out her bass.

She kept telling herself that she was only doing this for the money. That her father had been right, music was a waste of her time. She'd have been picked up by a scout by now if it wasn't. There was still something in the back of her mind, though, as she glanced at the crowd and tuned her instrument, that told her she should be doing music for the rest of her life. When she strummed the first chord, testing out how she felt and how the stage creaked under her feet, the crowd in front of her seemed to gather.

Marceline swallowed and stepped up to the microphone, fingers itching to play her beloved bass once more. "Now that I know every time I get sad you just hate me, you can go to sleep and sleep it off, peacefully. I'll be here all night feeling totally fucked," The look on Bonnibel's face when she swore was nowhere near as worth it as the look on her fathers. Or Bonnie's parents, for that matter. Marceline couldn't help but grin and wink at her girlfriend as she continued playing. "Wondering what tomorrow'll be like and staying up. I guess I just make myself the victim like you said, that's why when you treat me shitty you get mad." There were a few collective gasps, mostly from the parents of the students, as she swore once more. Most of her fellow classmates looked pretty impressed that she had the guts to stand up on stage and swear in front of them, though. "It all makes sense now, thanks so much. Goodbye forever, what the fuck?" The crowd, despite the parent's disapproval, gave her an applause as she thanked them and stepped down from the stage.

Bonnibel didn't look the happiest. "I cannot believe you just sang that in front of my parents." She sighed exasperatedly. "You're such a-,"

Marceline pressed a finger to her lips. "Careful, babe, we might not kiss at midnight if you carry on with that sentence." She smirked teasingly.

"I was going to say good singer," Bonnibel muttered slyly. "I wouldn't call my girlfriend a bad name." She gasped in poorly feigned shock and took Marceline's hand in hers. "How dare you even assume so,"

They managed to kiss at midnight, hidden away in Bonnibel's room and under the covers with the muffled music from the garden. Marceline wanted the year ahead of her to be just as good as the last few months of the last one.


	13. Chapter 13

Brad and Ash's apartment was on the first block of the Daley Estates Apartments, apartment 3A to be precise. The door was a streaked red, the paint peeling and the frame chipped. Marceline glanced to Phoebe.

The situation that they were in dawned on her, then, watching as her friend produced a key from her back pocket, were they _really_ about to break into Ash Mercers place to investigate his involvement with the people at the mill? Surely the police would've already done this.

"I'll stay out here in case the neighbours get curious as to why two strangers have decided to take a look around," Phoebe muttered, unlocking the door and patting Marceline's shoulder as she swung it open. "Just… don't make a mess."

Marceline stepped inside and warily looked around. The hallway she was in was surprisingly clean, a few of Ash's jackets had been hung haphazardly on a hook, and Brad's shoes were tucked away beneath them. Marceline had been expecting clutter, really.

She found Ash's room almost immediately, the one with the fist sized hole in the door, and nudged it ajar with her foot. His unmade bed was tucked away in the corner, but her eyes went straight to the bedside cabinet with a lock under the handle. _If he's hiding anything, it's gonna be in there._

Ash also had a desk with a computer on the other side of the room, littered with papers and other odd trinkets. Marceline decided to start looking for things there, making a tiny to do list in her mind.

 _Find a small key, look for a gun (optional), get dirt on Ash, search Brad's room_. _This investigating shit is exhausting what the fuck?_ The papers on Ash's desk were mostly half finished school work from last month (which, _relatable, wow)._ However, one of the sheets of paper had names of _students_ on, each with a cross or a tick beside them. She was surprised when she found her name without either, and that Finn had a tick. _What the fuck?_ She very quickly took a few pictures of the odd list before moving her search onto the computer. She collapsed into the chair, eyes focussing on a sticky note attached to Ash's monitor with the word _alibi_ written hastily across it as she turned on the computer. _What an odd password, Ashykins, and you've made it so easy for me to access._ She logged on to his account, pleased to find that the password did match.

She almost threw up a little when she saw the desktop background was of him and Bonnie, smiling with Brad and the rest of her friends in the background. _If only I was around back then… I wonder if things would've gone differently._

She checked his browser history before anything else, but it seemed like Ash kept on top of that more than anything else in his life. His most recent searches were 'was columbine gay?' and 'tcc mlm'. Marceline closed it before she went even further and checked what they were.

His documents were a cryptic mess. Most of them were labelled numerically, but the one titled _100717_costs_ caught Marceline's eye immediately. _Costs for what exactly? Drugs? More guns?_

 _Brad Simmons - Enhancers, 250_

 _Ellen Sarah-Peterson - 100_

 _Ricardio - 50_

 _Finn Mertens - 500_

 _Adam Barker - 100_

 _Braco - paid_

 _Eric - 350_

 _Stacy - 200_

 _Eddy - 1000, paid._

 _Marshall Lee - -250_

 _Drew - paid_

Marceline took another picture, frowning when she saw all too familiar names on the document. _Fucking Marshall can't keep his hands clean can he? And what the fuck has Finn bought that has him in so much debt to Ash?_

Marceline switched the computer off as soon as she realised the other documents were also more school work and unfinished essays. The desk drawers seemed to be of more use to her, though.

In the left hand side drawer Marceline found what looked to be a _forged_ gun license. She knew it was forged because Ash's last name was definitely not _Ferdinand._ Her phone came out once more.

 **Marceline (10:08):** _Hey Finn where do boys keep things that they don't want people to see? Also why the fuck do you owe Ash 500 big ones?_

 **Finn (10:11):** _Under their mattress or their pillow usually. & please don't tell anyone about that, it's the only reason I'm trying to find a job rn. _

**Marceline (10:12):** _Tell my why you're in debt to an asshole and I'll help you pay it back._

 **Finn (10:14):** _When he was dating Bonnibel he used to hook us up with drinks and things for our parties. Nothing too intense dw about it, but eventually he'd start bringing drugs and things and asking Bonnie to hide them for him. I told him I'd take them from him and ended up with a whole lot of shit in my room. He told me I could have some freebies because I was his friend and long story short after he broke up with Bonnibel he started charging me for all the stuff he gave me. It was so much worse before but I dipped into my uni funds to help pay it off. Please don't tell my brother or the others._

Marceline sighed. _Ash is such a fucking dildo. Making this fucking kid use his uni money to pay for 'freebies'. Stupid fucking Finn for actually believing him though._

 **Marceline (10:15):** _Won't tell anyone, promise. I can lend you some money, but don't expect me to get you out of shit like this again, okay?_

 **Finn (10:15):** _Thanks Marceline! I have 200 in my bank account rn, but I'm not expecting you to pay off the rest just because you're my friend. Even just 50 would help me out rn_.

Marceline pocketed her phone and span around on the chair, eyeing up the unmade bed in the corner of the room. The very thought of going over there and touching Ash's mattress made Marceline feel sick to her stomach, but the right drawer was just full of cables and that was her only lead right now.

There was a really gross long strand of Ash Hair on the pillow, a detail which Marceline wanted to burn out of her brain and forget as soon as she saw it, but she continued to lift it up anyway. No key.

So she lifted up the mattress, trying not to think too much about the stains on the bottom side of it, and instead grinning when she saw a small key on the bed frame. _Perfect, gotta thank Finn after giving him his fucking drug money_.

The key fit perfectly in the lock, and Marceline was both terrified and pleased when she opened the cabinet to find a gun and a whole lot of other questionable shit inside.

Ignoring the gun as much as she possibly could, Marceline moved the bags of weed and pills and _needles_ to pull out sheets of paper at the bottom, frowning when she unfolded a map of Oakdale. Her eyes narrowed to a wooded area with a red circle around it, mouth dipping into a frown when she noticed more ticks and crosses over certain areas of the town.

 _Is this the… mill? So he_ did _have something to do with that. But what about all this other shit?_ She took a photo of the map, checking the other sheets of paper as quickly as possible; she had already spent far too long in Ash's room and the fact that there was a gun right in front of her was making her shiver. She took another picture of the contents of the cabinet before putting everything back and locking it again, slipping the key back into its hiding place.

"And now… Brad's room." She sighed, crossing the hallway to another open door.

Brad's room was so much more organised than Ash's, the desk was clean and the bed looked as if it hadn't been slept in. Marceline mused at the idea of Brad sleeping with Ash at night, but shook the idea from her head when she remembered why she was there.

 _No locks this time,_ Marceline thought to herself as she opened Brad's bedside drawers, grimacing at the sight of boxers and socks. _Also… a fucking boat load of sports trophies from the school._ Baseball, basketball, football, the boy seemed to like his balls quite a lot. No computer, though, which made Marceline frown. There _was_ a sleeping bag though, tucked underneath the bed and stained with something red. Marceline vaguely remembered Brad saying something about Braco getting stabbed and moved on. It was only the last drawer, though, that had something particularly interesting within. A few photos of the mill, all taken on the same day, some with Ash smiling at the camera and holding the fucking gun in his hand. Marceline assumed Brad didn't look at them very often, considering the thin layer of dust covering a few, and stole one of the photos of them both smiling. _Fucking weirdos._

She continued her search.

No one seemed to have tipped either of them off that her and Phoebe had been inside their apartment, it seemed. Marceline felt a little weird after ditching to be _back_ at school, but said nothing when she walked up to the group at lunch. Phoebe gave her a little smile and remained silent on her phone.

She turned to Finn, smiling at the way he shifted uncomfortably under her stare. "Move over so I can sit next to Bonnie." He relaxed almost immediately, much to her amusement, and moved to a different seat so that Marceline could collapse next to Bonnibel with a huff. "How illegal is trespassing?"

Phoebe spluttered from her seat. "Nice one, Abadeer."

"Quite illegal," Bonnibel replied simply, taking Marceline's hand in her own with a smile. "Might I ask why or would that make me an accomplice to your crimes?"

Marceline gave her a lopsided grin and reached forward with her free hand to brush pink hair from blue eyes. "You'd be a beautiful accomplice, though." She said softly, earning a groan from Lady. "I'm right, shut your mouth."

"Yeah, whatever, Abadeer." Lady muttered. "Why were you trespassing exactly?"

"That's secret information,"

"Bullshit." Marceline arched a brow. Lady raised both hers in return. "Tell us, we can help if you get in trouble." _Lady raises a good point, actually. I'll need an alibi._

"Me and Phoebe kind of went inside Ash and Brad's apartment," Marceline explained. "For investigations and stuff,"

"You could've left me out of it." Came a grumble from Phoebe.

Bonnie shifted in her seat, staring curiously at Marceline. "They live together now? That's… nice."

 _Is that out of the ordinary for them?_ "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Brad sleeps someplace else, though, his bed looks like it hasn't been slept in _years_. Like, the pillows were on top of the duvet which was tucked under the mattress. It was really strange."

"Maybe they sleep together," Phoebe sang teasingly, laughing at the grimace on Marceline's face. "Joking. Though, they are really close. I wouldn't be surprised."

Lady rolled her eyes. "Brad and Ash? Please, they're both too far up their masculinity to even think about being that close. Brad has probably been running off to Ellen's place."

That was the most logical answer, yet Marceline couldn't help but keep thinking about how close Brad and Ash actually were. Not as close as to share a bed, but close enough that Marceline could think of a few times they'd unconsiously showed how much they cared about the other. _Brad defended Ash without him even being there when Bonnie called Ash out that one time, and Ash was stood in a similar way to how Bonnie was standing behind my chair in the principles office._

And then Marceline's eyes drifted over to where Brad and Ash were sitting. All the way at the other side of the cafeteria, Brad was talking animatedly to Ash, who was sat listening in return. Ash was also _smiling_. Something that Marceline hadn't seen him do in genuine.

She blinked.

 _Ash can have friends, he's a normal human teenager too. He just happens to own a gun and do hardcore drugs and might be involved in a hostage situation. Who the fuck knows?_

"So, is Brad the only person Ash talks to?" Marceline found herself asking.

Phoebe shook her head. "He talks to Braco sometimes, Brad drags him to parties with Ellen's crowd and he socialises there too. I think he wishes he could just talk to Brad though."

"Sometimes I wish I could just talk to Marceline," Bonnibel sighed wistfully. "But then I'd feel like a terrible person because you're all nice people."

Marceline gave her girlfriend an odd stare, brows furrowing and lips curling into a small smirk. "You're a nerd." She muttered before leaning forwards to kiss a freckled cheek. "I'm dating a socially repressed nerd. How'd that happen?"

Bonnibel scoffed gently, staring down at her empty plate and then at the empty space in front of Marceline. "I'm not a nerd, Marceline, I'm a scientist. We just like time to ourselves and academics. Sue us."

"Sue all the nerds? That'd take a long time, Bonnie."

Bonnie just groaned in reply, much to the amusement of the rest of the table. "Go get food, idiot. You're gonna complain next period that you're hungry and I _know_ you'll want to go to the diner." Marceline gave Bonnibel her best pout, bottom lip quivering just because she could. "Brad might be there, Marcy," At that, the older girl stopped immediately and straightened her back.

 _Brad. Brad and Ash are possibly involved in something really big and somehow I'm the only one who cares enough to go find out? What the fuck? I need to compile all my evidence onto my computer, look at it for a few seconds, watch some netflix, think about my girlfriend (clothes optional), possibly sulk in my bed until I fall asleep. Sounds like a perfect plan._

"Marceline?" Jake's foot collided with Marceline's shin, pulling her out of her thoughts. In all honesty her brain had hooked on _Bonnie without clothes_ and she was happy to remain thinking about that until death. "You _did_ say yes to going to the gym with me," And at his sincere smile, Marceline knew Jake wasn't teasing her. "Wanna go this weekend?"

Before Marceline could reply with a complicated falsehood that might've resulted in her leaving the country and changing her name, Bonnibel perked up. "You're going to the gym?"

Marceline _knew_ the look in Bonnibel's eyes was something else entirely, something other than simple curiosity, and that alone made her stomach wobble in an unhealthy way. "Yeah, this Saturday?" She glanced back to Jake with a half smile. _I'm getting abs for this girl. Hell fucking yeah I am._

"'Course," Jake agreed, nodding and pulling out his phone. "We're gonna break you, Abadeer."

Marceline swallowed.

Bonnibel moaned into Marceline's open mouth, hands bundling into her friends collar. It was still cold outside, the snow only just turning into mush, and the windows in Marceline's car had steamed up nicely. There was something that just felt _bad_ about making out in a car, Marceline thought idly, softly trailing her mouth down Bonnibel's throat as her friend groaned and pulled at her clothes, something that made her feel like more of a delinquent than she already was. It was oddly satisfying, really.

"Come in?" Was breathed against her ear, and Marceline had a hard time understanding what Bonnibel meant by that request before her brain caught up with her. _Yes I was supposed to be taking her home_. So that could only really mean that Bonnibel was asking her to… _oh_.

In the back of her head, Marceline vaguely remembered Bonnie commenting that her parents weren't home. She'd been completely oblivious, of course, and just told the other girl that she'd text her when she'd driven home. _Oh, Marceline, you useless idiot, the girl wants to bone and you didn't even realise_.

Marceline detached her lips from Bonnie's throat, fumbling for the door handle on her side. Despite her best efforts, Marceline ended up winding the window down, to which Bonnibel rolled her eyes at and leaned forwards to help. Of course, with Bonnibel's neck in front of her once more, what else was Marceline supposed to do other than go back to kissing and marking it? Really, it just seemed natural.

"Marcel- _ine_ ," The door behind Marceline finally opened, and she found herself toppling out in a fuss of limbs and cursing.

"Ow, damn. Fuck, I'm bleeding. Cock, that hurt. Holy shit what the fuck just happened, did you just try to kill me?" She glanced up from her now prone position in the _middle of the fucking street_ to stare at a very red and all of a sudden very shy Bonnibel peeking out from over the gearbox.

"In my defence, you _bit_ me." She squeaked.

Despite her position, Marceline waggled her eyebrows at her friend. "Want me to do it again?" Her school bag was thrown at her head. "Alright, alright. Stop attacking me. I really _am_ bleeding _._ "

Bonnibel exited the car via the normal person way (read: the boring way) and helped Marceline up from the damp ground. With a kiss to her cheek, and her now bleeding palm, Bonnibel led her inside.

"I'll go get you a band-aid," She said with another chaste kiss. "Go sit on the couch and look pretty, yeah?"

Marceline opened her mouth to protest, but Bonnibel had already winked and started walking into the kitchen. She collapsed onto the couch, then, huffing and pulling out her phone to a text from Marshall.

 ** _Marshall (4:08):_** _Yo, me and Keila wanna come down to see u marmar. got a clear calendar or something?_

 ** _Marceline (4:13):_** _I've only just got back from christmas break, asshat. You can come over for a weekend or something if you so wish._

"Secret girlfriend?" Bonnibel teased as she sat next to Marceline, a little first aid box on her lap. "Should I be concerned?"

Marceline shook her head no. "It's Marshall, wants to come over and ruin my life."

The band aid was applied delicately to her palm, and another kiss was planted to her wrist, and then her cheek, and then her mouth. Marceline found herself being pleasantly pressed against the arm of the sofa, Bonnibel shifting her legs so that she was sat on her knee. She was more than happy to lay there and let Bonnibel kiss her until she was numb and dizzy, but her phone began to ring in her pocket and Bonnibel was too responsible to let Marceline not answer it.

" _Hey, Marceline,_ " Jake's voice came from the phone. " _Did you pick Finn up from school?_ "

Marceline frowned, forgetting he couldn't see her and shaking her head. "Nope. Why?"

" _Oh, he said you were going to pick him up today. He's not with you, then?_ "

"Last time I saw him was at lunch." She muttered. "I thought he'd gone home as per usual."

" _Fuck, okay, well he's not shown up. Can you keep an eye out for a text or something? I'm gonna go check Phoebe's place._ "

"'Course we will, we hope he shows up soon," And with that, Marceline returned to kissing Bonnibel.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Carries on from the last chapter.**

 **Content warnings: blood mention, hospital talk, some body jargon, finally some lady sexing, plot and foreshadowing.**

* * *

"You're lucky I like you guys so much," It hadn't meant to sound as bad as it did in their current situation. Marceline was just peeved that Jake showed up to Bonnibel's place a couple hours after their call, interrupting the two girls and their clumsy, awkward fumbling. It was as if every time they made progress, unclothed or not, they always ended up being cockblocked.

The flashlight on Jake's phone angled up to into her face and she looked away, squinting. "The quicker we can find Finn, the quicker you two can go back to making out."

"Excuse me?" Marceline was a little taken aback, by the accusation (that, yes, was true) and the fact that he might've just blinded her.

"You have hickeys, Abadeer." Jake drawled, finally pointing his phone to somewhere other than Marceline's peripherals. "I'd be concerned if it was someone else who'd given them you."

Marceline just palmed at her throat, thankful that the short winter days meant that no one could really see her blush from where they were all stood. _Bonnie and her damn hickeys,_ her brain grumbled to itself as she glanced at her girlfriend, now clad in Marceline's hoodie because of the cold. She looked utterly adorable with the sleeves coming past her hands.

"Does he have any places he likes to hang out alone?" Marceline asked gently when she noticed no one was making any plans to start moving. "Like… I don't know, when I lived near Marshall I always found myself near the lake. Does he have anywhere like that?"

"He hangs out near the woods," Jake gruffly replied. "I doubt he'd be dumb enough to go there when it's dark." Marceline bit back the remark of 'But it's Finn' and instead nodded, knowing the look in Jake's eye was more than just concern. "We'll go in pairs. Phoebe and I will check around the school first, then we'll head towards the arcades. Lady will go with Bonnibel to the ice rink and then loop back up to see if he's come back home or something. Marceline, I'm trusting you to go to the woods alone because you punched Ash Mercer in the face and if you can do that then you can do anything."

"Fucking hell yeah I can,"

"If we don't find him then we'll meet up at the police station, it's a few blocks away from where you work." Jake added.

Before they all began to split up, Marceline found herself being thoroughly kissed by Bonnibel. "What have I told you about public display of affection?" She huffed into her mouth, not even bothering to fight the raging blush on her face. The worry on her girlfriend's face made her less aware that they were being watched.

"Just stay safe, alright?" Bonnibel sighed in reply as she brushed strands of hair out of Marceline's face. "The mill is pretty close by to those woods, and if Finn's actually _missing_ then," She trailed off, thumbing the collar of Marceline's shirt with a frown. _Then Ash and his gun could jump out from behind a tree? Yeah, the thoughts crossed my mind too._

"I won't stray too far, promise." Marceline kissed her forehead gently. "I'll text if I get into any trouble. You'll be the first to know." She watched intently as Jake and the others began to split off into their pairs, catching the worried look from both Bonnibel and Phoebe.

The woods were a good mile and a half from where they had all gathered outside Phoebe's house. Marceline's head swarmed as she set off towards her destination, mostly questions about where Finn was and if he was actually okay. He still hadn't replied to any of her texts that she'd sent, which made her frown because Finn _always_ texted her back.

About an hour in to her search and rescue mission, Marceline encountered the looming shadowy structure of the mill in the distance. It almost begged her to go and have peek, but she'd promised Bonnibel that she'd at least try keep safe. Even if that meant waiting for another opportunity to see what was inside.

 ** _Marceline (6:38):_** _Yo, I'm bored outta my mind rn_

 ** _Bonnie (6:38):_** _No luck finding him?_

 ** _Marceline (6:39):_** _Nope. Can we continue what we were doing before Jake came in when we go back home?_

 ** _Bonnie (6:39):_** _I get that you're feeling sexually deprived and everything, but can you at least act a little upset that Finn has literally gone missing? Hornball._

Marceline scoffed out loud at that. _Hornball? We'll see about that, Butler._ She was about to tap out a reply, something lewd and that would probably earn her a smack on the arm, but then her eye caught sight of something stumbling around in the direction of the mill and she felt her entire body freeze up. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she realised it was a person.

The figure hunched forward, clutching at something in its arms, moving towards or away from Marceline she couldn't tell. Her legs seemed to have turned into lead. _That could be fucking Ash. He could have a fucking gun. He's going to kill me._

Although, even as the thought rushed through her brain, she squinted through the darkness and noticed that the figure was too small, too _slender_ to be Ash.

No, that was- "Finn!" Her phone was back in her hand, only this time she was calling the ambulance because something was seriously wrong with him if he was stumbling around in the forest. "Finn, we've got help on the way!" She called, started jogging as the phone began to dial. "Yeah, hi? There's a kid in the woods near Oakdale, he needs to go to the ER right now and- holy fuck Finn what the fuck happened to your arm?"

* * *

Seeing her friends arm bloodied and torn at the tendon was a horrifying experience on it's own. To be asked about it several times, questioned by the police and _Jake_? Marceline was grateful when Lady drove everyone back to Bonnibel's house, thankful for the blanket that her girlfriend wrapped her up in the moment she sat on the couch.

"I don't understand," Jake was saying, had been saying for the past half hour out of shock. "How- Why was he there in the first place?" Marceline shrugged, too numb to really understand whether or not the question was directed at her. The only thing she could focus on was Bonnibel's hand rubbing soothing circles on her shoulder blade. "When can we go visit?" Another shrug. "Why won't they tell me what's wrong with his arm?" Marceline made to open her mouth to reply, but found that her girlfriend beat her to it.

"The hospital will call us if anything happens, Jake. The silence means they're working," Bonnibel sighed, leaning down to kiss Marceline's cheek. "For now, I suggest you guys go home and look after yourselves. Jake, comfort your parents. Me and Marcy will call you if we hear anything,"

"This is so janked up," Jake grumbled on the way out. "Everything about this situation is _janked_." And Marceline had to agree with him as she gazed vacantly at the floor in front of her.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Bonnibel cooed. "Do you want me to call your dad for you?" Marceline nodded dumbly and her cellphone was retrieved from the pocket in her shirt. "Hi, Mr Abadeer. You already heard? Yes, she's with me. I think I'm going to keep her for tonight, though, if that's okay with you? She was the first one to see… _everything_. I'll call the school first thing in the morning to tell them she won't be coming in for the rest of the week, don't worry. Her attendance will be fine I'm positive. Yes, okay, thank you. Bye."

Marceline hummed in the back of her throat and smiled despite herself. "Week off school. Neat."

Bonnibel just laughed, returning to her position on the arm of the sofa so she could resume her soothing circles. "I'll be with you. Can't have you alone tomorrow, not after tonight." Her other free hand came up to touch Marceline's cheek, tilting her head so that she could kiss her gingerly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"M'fine," Marceline mumbled. "Just shook up, is all." That definitely did not stop her from closing the tiny gap to kiss Bonnibel again. "I've been through worse, really."

"That's not very promising to hear," Bonnibel laughed, breathy and light against Marceline's mouth. "What've you been through that's made you so tough, then?" It was teasing, but all Marceline could do was pull her closer and shake her head no. _That's a conversation I'm not ready to have with anyone, not really._ "Well, I won't pry. But I want you to know that I won't judge you, either. No matter what it is."

"I know," Marceline said gently, looking anywhere that wasn't Bonnibel. "It's just… toughness doesn't come from soft things, Bonnie. You gotta hurt, a lot." _Too much._

The ministrations on her shoulder stopped when Bonnibel's hand slipped up into Marceline's hair, massaging her scalp and scratching behind her ear when Marceline leaned into it like a cat. They remained in silence for a long time after that, Bonnibel half on Marceline's lap with her hand in her hair.

The knock on the door a half hour later made Bonnibel shoot up. Not without a peck on the cheek. Marceline watched in half interest as Bonnibel walked into the hallway, opened the door, and spoke softly with whoever was there. Despite wanting to continue kissing Bonnibel and have her play with her hair, Marceline felt herself become heavy with sleep, eyes slipping shut as she registered sound of the door closing.

Bonnie's hushed whisper made her smile a little bit. "Do you wanna stay here or go to bed?" Her body and mind screamed that she stay on the sofa, but she desperately wanted comfort and a pillow underneath her head. She stood up in a daze. "Bed, then." Bonnibel said, taking Marceline's hand in hers to guide her half asleep girlfriend up the stairs.

"If I get nightmares ignore me," Marceline huffed as she was wrapped up in Bonnibel's duvet.

She heard a zipper being undone, and then the rustling of clothes. "I most certainly will not." Marceline became all too aware of the heaviness of her own clothes, but then Bonnibel slipped underneath the duvet with her and tucked her face beneath her chin and she felt a little too awkward to ask if she could be undressed.

"Please," She pouted, instead, pleased despite herself when Bonnibel pressed a kiss there. "I don't need to be fussed over."

"Marceline Abadeer, after what you've seen tonight you need all the fussing in the world." And then, as if she could read her mind. "Do you want your clothes off?"

"Jeans 'n plaid shirt," Marceline huffed through sleep. "Bra, too."

"Seven hours ago I thought I'd be undressing you in a completely different way," Bonnibel's hand gently undid the buttons of Marceline's shirt, and the older girl was thankful that she'd put on a tanktop underneath it because of the weather. The button up was undone and moved over shoulders, making her smile when Bonnibel planted a kiss to her clavicle as she discarded the shirt with her own clothes. Sleep took over her brain after Bonnibel carefully and gently slid her jeans off.

* * *

Bonnibel's mattress was the softest thing Marceline had ever had the pleasure to lay down on. Waking up wrapped tightly in Bonnibel's thick duvet was probably the closest thing Marceline could ever come to sleeping on a cloud.

There was also the bonus of having Bonnie herself tucked into her side, breaths soft and even against the skin of Marceline's throat. _Why have I woken up?_ Was the first thought that popped into her hazy brain, not finding any sort of discomfort around her. Bonnibel's hand shifted and it was then Marceline realised that her girlfriend wasn't asleep; her fingers were absent mindedly tracing patterns across her stomach, around her navel, over her hipbones. She peered through an open eye to find that Bonnie was smiling softly, lips kind of begging to be kissed (but when weren't they) and hair a mess. Marceline found it absolutely breathtaking.

"You're gorgeous," She found herself sighing. Her ears tuned into the sound of her phone going off, ringing on the bedside table where Bonnibel had put it the night prior. Marceline blindly patted around behind her, not bothering to take her tired eyes off of Bonnibel's freckles for a second.

" _Hey, they decided to amputate his arm early this morning. The surgery went really well but they're keeping him for a week. Do you wanna go visit him soon?_ " Jake's breathy, tired voice brought Marceline out of her lovely dream state.

"Amputate?" Marceline repeated. "I-Oh, fuck, dude. I'm sorry."

" _Hey, it's cool. The police say that if you hadn't of found him he'd have bled out. So, thanks I guess? Lady and Phoebe are still at school but they say we can see him at around five. They're just… stabilising him I guess?_ "

"You're not at school yourself?" Bonnibel muttered from the crook of Marceline's neck.

Despite everything, Jake let out a genuine laugh. " _No. Attendance can suck my ass, I've been in the hospital since six this morning. I assume you two have been asleep all morning?_ "

"Mhm," Marceline hummed as Bonnibel began to kiss her clavicle. "We'll be down there at five, don't worry about it dude." She hung up the moment Bonnibel's hands slipped under her tanktop, lips pressing against hers. "What happened to being worried about Finn?" Marceline breathed through a slanted smile.

"He's fine, Jake would've called earlier if not."

"Bon, they amputated-," She cut herself off with a gasp when a strategically placed leg pressed firmly between her legs. Very aware of her blush, Marceline kept her mouth shut and allowed Bonnibel's lips to trace the shell of her ear.

"Marcy, be a good girl for once and shut up," And there it was. The killer combo of that sickeningly cute nickname and the 'good girl' sighed into the flushed skin that connected her jaw to her ear. It turned Marceline into putty on the mattress.

The leg pressed higher, more firmly, and Marceline shuddered out a breath- because wow, okay, that felt _amazing_ \- and Bonnibel chuckled airily at the reaction. The hands that had been tracing shapes on her stomach dared to move higher, cold fingertips meeting heated skin over Marceline's ribs. Her own hands felt too heavy to even move, splayed out at her sides and trembling whenever Bonnibel's tongue did _that_.

She bit back a moan when Bonnibel's hands finally came up to cup her chest, but she sighed when thumbs skittered over far too sensitive nipples.

"Tell me if you get uncomfortable, okay?" Bonnibel breathed into her skin, nibbling at her girlfriends jaw. All Marceline could do was nod in reply and squeeze her eyes shut.

Bonnibel moved her mouth from her jaw, choosing instead to place open mouthed kisses to her neck instead. The hands at her chest were still fumbling, still creating friction that sooner or later would make Marceline insane. Shifting only made her hyper aware of the ever present thigh between her legs. Bonnibel drew skin between her teeth, as she did whenever she left her infamous hickeys, and Marceline's breath faltered at all the different sensations.

" _Bonnie,_ " She whined delicately as Bonnibel probably left a rather dark mark on her throat. " _C'mon,_ "

"Impatient and whiny, huh?" Bonnibel teased, stripping Marceline of her shirt nonetheless. She kissed down her chest before her mouth closed around an already erect nipple. Marceline moaned at the feeling of Bonnibel's mouth around her, arching her back and unconsiously pressing further against _that damn leg_.

The hand that was now free trailed down her stomach and fumbled at the waistband of her boxer briefs, asking an unspoken question that Marceline answered with another mewl. Bonnibel's fingers pressed, curled and found that special place with almost expert precision. If Bonnibel hadn't told Marceline that she was a virgin, she would've thought otherwise. It was over almost embarrassingly quick; Bonnibel took advantage of her sensitive throat and kept those hands of hers incredibly busy.

"Are you okay?" Came a gentle giggle, after Marceline had stopped panting and Bonnibel had removed her fingers from inside of her. "C'mon, we need to start getting ready. The hospital is an hour away."

Marceline snorted. _Oh, so now she's suddenly worried about being late?_ "Gimme a few more minutes to recover, Bon."

* * *

They were a little bit late. "You're half an hour late, was traffic that bad?" Okay, so Marceline was lying to herself. In her defence, it was all Bonnie's fault and completely not her own.

"Blame Marceline," Bonnibel muttered, slowing to a halt in front of an obviously tired Jake. So maybe that was a lie too. But, in all honesty, Marceline saying 'I wanna do you next,' did not necessarily mean 'I wanna do you now,'.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Phoebe and Lady are already in there with him," He said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to room 112.

Before Marceline could follow Jake in, Bonnibel pulled her to the side. "Are you sure you're okay with seeing him? After last night I-,"

"It's fine," Marceline assured her, giving her her best grin and kissing her temple. "I _promise_ ," She even waggled her hand around, the one with the promise ring on it, and smiled wider when Bonnibel took hold of it.

Finn's arm had been amputated above the elbow and he was being given oxygen through one of those masks that Marceline had only really seen once in her life before. There were other tubes too, one that Marceline assumed was a drip and another smaller tube that Marceline wasn't sure about.

His eyes glanced up at Bonnibel, smiling lightly and giving her a wave with his healthy arm. Then he beamed at Marceline.

"Hey guys," He greeted weakly, still cheerful despite his situation. "I'm gonna be part cyborg."

Marceline snorted. "You can't be part cyborg, nerd. Cyborgs are part human part robot."

"Can you remember anything yet?" Jake asked. "Like, if Ash was there or whatever?"

"All I remember is the end of school, then I woke up here where I have no arm and I've got to piss through a tube."

Marceline felt sorry for him. If Finn really couldn't remember anything, then waking up without a limb must be more more terrifying. "So you don't remember me phoning the ambulance?"

Finn chewed his lip in thought, the usual childish glint in his eye gone. "Vaguely? I remember collapsing and you freaking out," _Thanks, Finn._ "I also remember you taking me out of the woods. I owe you one, Marceline."

"Hell yeah you do," She replied through a laugh.

A knock on the door stopped all conversation, and Marceline tensed as soon as she saw Brad and a unnamed girl walk in with _flowers._

"We heard what happened," Brad mumbled around an odd expression. "Ash is in the hallway, said he didn't want to make anyone mad. He did buy these though," And he put the flowers on the bedside table.

"It's such a shame, Finn," The girl began. "We were totally thinking about having you join one of our sports teams now that Braco is injured. This season was going to be yours."

Finn's expression fell, and Marceline suddenly wanted to tell the two guests to leave before she punched them, but then Brad continued.

"What she's trying to say, is that even though we can't have you join the team we'd love for you to be our mascot. The bulldogs could really do with someone as energetic as you, Finn. And as for the open position on the basketball team, we're holding private try outs and you're all invited." Brad gave his biggest grin and slipped his hands into his pockets, rocking back onto his heels.

"I'll keep it in mind," Finn replied dejectedly. "It's just… I've gotta do exercises and get my prosthetic and recover,"

"I know," Brad nodded with a smile. "My mums boyfriend lost his leg after an accident at work five months ago and he's only just got his prosthetic, we're willing to wait." _Why's this asshole being so nice all of a sudden?_

And then Ash's head popped through the door, which would've been amusing if it wasn't for the fact that it was Ash and he wasn't _glaring_. "D'you want me to get you something from the vending machine?"

Brad twirled around on the spot and smiled back. "Nah. We're leaving, anyway." He replied, before calling back over his shoulder. "Try outs are next month."

As soon as the door closed, Phoebe piped up. "Twenty bucks says they're each others prom date."

The room erupted into laughter.

* * *

 **I now know far too much about amputations. Thanks for coming to my ted talk/**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Howdy folks! Reasons for me uploading late (I'm so sorry): my motivation kind of dipped and I haven't written anything in a while, college work beckoned me further into depression and I've been on the fence about certain things.**

 **Content Warnings: exercise, very subtle foreshadowing that's barely even there, background info, plot, mention of a death and more alcohol and bad choices.**

* * *

"C'mon, Abadeer, I thought you wanted to look good for your girlfriend," _I swear to god, this asshole just brought me here to verbally bully me,_ Marceline thought to herself sourly, glaring over her shoulder at an all too amused Jake. "What's Bonnibel gonna say when she finds out you can't do a pull-up?"

"Asshole," She grumbled in response. "You're an asshole."

Jake's smile widened and he nodded back to the bar in front of her. "Why not use all that pent up aggression you have to try and do it again? Ash isn't going to punch himself you know,"

Marceline snorted at the imagery of Ash Mercer punching himself repeatedly, but gripped onto the bar nonetheless. In all fairness, Jake had already tortured her with the weights and her poor stick like limbs were aching under the sudden exertion. It was still a little pathetic that she couldn't at least get one pull-up down though.

"I hate that I agreed to this," She huffed around the physical strain it took her to even lift herself from the floor. "I just wanna look good for Bonnie."

"Yeah, yeah, straighten your back. Being all hunched up isn't helping."

Marceline glared and despite her arms trembling under the weight of her body, managed to straighten herself out.

"See? You're doing fine. Just think about that end goal, Marceline. You want her drooling over you? Work for it."

Despite Jake's motivational speech, Marceline barely managed to lift her chin over the bar when her arms finally gave out and she dropped to the floor in a pile of limbs and curse words.

"Same time next week?" Jake asked around a mirthful laugh.

Marceline shrugged a shoulder and collected herself from the gym floor. "Sure, yeah." And then she remembered that they were supposed to be meeting the rest of the group at the diner, and glanced at her phone. "You want me to drive you to Terry's or are you heading home first?"

"Hospital?" Jake chanced as he lead them to the joint locker rooms outside the showers. "I just wanna check up on him, he's out in two days,"

"Sure, man. I think Bonnie said something about her and the others having a shopping day anyway," They both made a mutual face of disgust as they grabbed their things and left, Marceline trailing after Jake with her sore limbs. "We should be good with time."

The sharp January breeze hit her damp skin in an almost relaxing way, and she led Jake to where she'd parked her car. "You should see who showed up last week." Jake muttered, clicking on his seatbelt and settling down in the passenger seat. "Brad came in, as usual, with _Ash_ of all people."

Marceline stuck her tongue out. "You think he's trying to get that spot on the basketball team?"

"Nah, he didn't do much. Just took up a treadmill and watched Brad." There was a pause in their conversation then as Marceline pulled out of the car park and headed in the direction of the hospital, thankful that she'd remembered some of the short cuts that Bonnie had told her about.

"Wanna come and see him?" Jake asked as soon as they found a place to park. Marceline shook her head, quite content with staying out of the hospital and in her car while Jake went in to his brother. Jake nodded understandingly and darted out of the car, eager to see his brother one last time and catch him up on what he'd missed.

Marceline smiled when her phone buzzed, half expecting it to be Bonnie and becoming very disappointed when she saw it wasn't.

 ** _Ellen FuckFace (3:28):_** _Reminder that you're invited to the try-outs next month xxx_

 ** _Marceline (3:29):_** _Right, because I'm definitely sporty and you and your buddies really want me on your prized sports teams. Ask someone you really want to come._

 ** _Ellen FuckFace (3:30):_** _We wouldn't have invited you if we didn't want you to join._

 ** _Ellen FuckFace (3:30):_** _Just because you caused a scene with Brad doesn't mean we hate you, Marceline._

Marceline didn't like the fact that Ellen had used her first name in text form, as if they were friends or something, and decided to stop texting her in case she actually decided to go make a fool of herself in front of the sporty folk over at the school. The thought of her and Brad working as a _team_ made her want to die, and the fact that Ash could possibly be there to watch and laugh at her just made it a very big no. _Definitely not. What would Marshall even say? 'God, Marmar, thought you didn't like basketball after you lost to Keila? What happened to you never playing it ever again?'._ She could hear Marshall's teasing tone in the back of her head and groaned when she remembered that she'd invited them over for a weekend.

 ** _Marceline (3:34):_** _When are you and Marshall visiting?_

 ** _Keila (3:35):_** _Uh… next month? If that's okay with you?_

 ** _Marceline (3:35):_** _That's cool._

 ** _Marceline (3:37):_** _What are you two up to?_

 ** _Keila (3:37):_** _What ever happened to the Marceline who snapped at me two years ago? :p_

 ** _Keila (3:38):_** _And we're looking for a home for the kid, actually. You were right. Redgate isn't exactly the best place to bring a kid up._

Marceline blinked twice at her phone screen. _They're being responsible for once? The fuck?_

 ** _Marceline (3:39):_** _No shit. I'm glad you're deciding to give the little meat sack a chance at life, though. But, anyway, why were you screwing my boyfriend behind my back?_

 ** _Keila (3:40):_** _'boyfriend'_

 ** _Keila (3:40):_** _C'mon, marshmallow, you and I both know you're not attracted to Marshall. Plus, we weren't screwing. We screwed. Once. He's being nice enough to help me out and me moving in with him is just convenient._

 ** _Marceline (3:42):_** _Why not tell me? Like, yeah, ok, you're right about the whole 'I was only dating him because I'm gay and my dad would kill me'. but stiLL._

 ** _Keila (3:42):_** _It was a stupid decision. I don't even like him like that, promise. We were just drunk and lonely without you._

 ** _Marceline (3:43):_** _Drunk and lonely, story of your life._

 ** _Marceline (3:43):_** _How am I gonna tell my dad that I'm bi?_

 ** _Keila (3:44):_** _Truthfully, don't go beating around the bush. You said you and Bonnie were gonna move in together, yeah? Do it, then tell your dad you're dating her. I doubt after what happened at Redgate he'd push you away, marshmallow._

 ** _Marceline (3:45):_** _Yeah alright thanks, I'll talk to Bon about it and see if we can find a place quickly._

Marceline sighed and mulled over what Keila had said. Sure, if she moved in with Bonnibel first her father wouldn't be able to kick her out, but he'd definitely be able to twist Bonnibel's parents and make them come back home. Then she'd have a problem.

Her brain went to the idea of living with Bonnibel then, to the endless amount of take-out food they'd have and waking up next to her every morning. That would be worth the risk of her father going full on psycho on her.

The car door opening a few moments later made her jump, all thoughts of Bonnie in her hoodies on weekends flying out of her mind. Jake clambered into the passenger seat with a grin and Marceline started the engine without a word to him.

* * *

"So, okay, we weren't actually in danger. However, our parents had called the police and the school was pretty much on fire so-," Phoebe cut herself off, head whipping round as Marceline and Jake entered the diner in the middle of her story.

Lady almost immediately shuffled up the usual booth to allow room for Jake, whereas Bonnibel just playfully glared at Marceline when she sidled up to the table with a smirk.

"Phoebe and I are on a platonic date today," She teased, sticking her tongue out at her girlfriend. "You can't sit next to me."

Marceline just rolled her eyes. "I'll let you sit on my knee?"

"Deal, Abadeer," Bonnibel said around a grin, shifting out of the booth so that Marceline could take her place. "Anyway, Phoebe was just telling us about how she and a few friends got blamed for setting fire to her old school while they were ditching."

Marceline's eyebrows shot up and she leaned around Bonnibel, looking impressively at Phoebe. "How'd that happen?"

"I have a reputation with fire," The redhead said monotonously, sipping her milkshake. "Burnt some girls extensions because she looked at me funny."

"How ironic is it that the redhead of our group is obsessed with fire?" Jake laughed.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. " _I'm_ ginger, idiot." Marceline's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "And the term you're looking for is pyromaniac."

"You're a redhead?" Marceline spluttered. "I'm dating a ginger?"

The look on Bonnibel's face was sly, and Marceline had a feeling that she was going to be in trouble as Bonnie took a sip of her milkshake. "Don't act so surprised, Marceline,"

Marceline had to blink a few times before it settled in her brain. Then she realised what she meant. "I- Right, yeah. I didn't put too much thought into that."

Lady sent them a knowing smile. "Surprised that the carpet didn't match the drapes?"

"I am not discussing _that_ with _you_." Marceline said around a blush. Lady shrugged and went

back to asking Jake about Finn, and Phoebe continued her people watching.

Bonnibel just grinned at her. "Enjoy the gym?"

"Absolutely not," Marceline answered truthfully. "My body is going to hate me in the morning, I can tell."

"Jake texted me saying you were doing really well,"

"Yeah?" Marceline sent Jake a suspicious glance, but all she got was a lovely visual of Lady's tongue down his throat and decided not to do that again. Ever. "He's lying."

"You should at least continue for a while, see if you like it after a bit." Bonnibel persuaded her, fingers linking with hers. Marceline just smirked.

"I already told him I'd join him for at least a few weeks," _For Bonnie to 'drool' over me. Duh._ "So, you don't need to worry."

"Good," Bonnibel said simply. "I like the idea of you going to the gym. Health and whatnot."

Marceline narrowed her eyes at the blush on Bonnibel's cheeks and leaned closer to grin. "Sure, 'health'. What other ideas do you have?"

Bonnibel just inhaled sharply and straightened her back, glancing at her friends around the table. "Are any of you going to the try-outs next month?"

Phoebe shrugged. "Depends. Brad and I aren't on friendly terms right now because I told Ellen he wasn't exactly serious about their relationship. Ash will be there too, so that's a downer."

"I might sign up." Came Jake's surprising reply. "Brad doesn't scare me any more, not after he was kind enough to visit Finn." Lady hummed and suddenly all eyes were on Marceline.

"Basketball is fucking shit," Fell bitterly out of her mouth. "Haven't played for two years because Keila stole my spot on the Redgate basketball team."

"You played basketball?" Bonnibel mused. "Sign up, then. It'll look good for future job applications."

"It's crossed my mind," Marceline admitted, playing with the hem of her shirt. "But I doubt Brad and I would get along that well, and the thought of having to do it in front of Ash makes me wanna die." She took a glance at Bonnie's smile. "Also, if I joined the basketball team I wouldn't have the time to kiss you whenever I wanted. That'd suck."

Bonnie opened her mouth, to agree or disagree Marceline couldn't tell, but then everyone's heads turned to Terry, who was standing at the end of the table with a milkshake, burger and fries. Bonnibel's eyes narrowed. "I don't think we've ordered anything recently." She muttered, taking a glance at Phoebe's half full glass.

"This is for your girlfriend," Terry clarified with a smile, putting the large pink shake in front of Marceline, followed by the food.

"Free stuff is cool and all, but I have to insist that I pay. Otherwise my dad will freak out and I'll never be able to eat here again." Terry seemed only very slightly confused and Marceline was happy when the woman didn't pry. "Here you go," She waved the money out in front of her with a slanted grin.

Jake frowned at the situation entirely, but remained silent beside his girlfriend and watched as Marceline tucked into the burger. Marceline just lightly glared at him in return.

"Your dad sounds like an ass," Finally came out of his mouth.

Marceline laughed. "Yeah. He's embarrassing and a fucking awful father." An awkward silence descended over the table then and Marceline began to realise that maybe she was the only one who had problems with her family. _They don't even know the half of it._

"You still love him though, right?" Lady asked with a tiny hint of a sad smile.

Marceline thought about it for a good long moment, did she love Hudson? He was complicated and critical of almost everything she did. As a father figure, no, Marceline came to the conclusion that she did not love him as much as she loved her uncle. As a person? Perhaps. Hudson had come from a poor family, made a business for himself, built himself from practically nothing. On that regard, Marceline felt mere respect for her dad.

So she came to a mental conclusion and gave her friends a shrug. "Never seen him as a father figure, to be honest. My uncle Simon really set the bar high on that one."

"What about your mum?" Came Jake's innocent question as they all seemingly pondered their family life. There was a scuffle under the table then, in which Jake hissed and grumbled out an apology and both Lady and Bonnibel glared.

 _It was bound to come out sooner or later. It always does._ "She died when I was little," And the silence came back in leaps and bounds, blanketing them in this uncomfortable moment of wanting the walls to eat them all whole. Marceline kind of found it ironic, with the amount of white noise in her head. "I was seven, she was driving me to school."

"You were there?" Phoebe practically yelled out before she could slap a hand over her mouth.

Marceline nodded. "After that I went to live with my uncle because I had to go to therapy and things. She survived the initial crash, but then… I don't know, Bonnie knows more medical jargon than I do but I think it was something to do with her lungs? They said I was lucky, I didn't feel that much lucky." Bonnibel's hand found its way into hers, and Marceline took a breath to relax and collect her thoughts before Jake could ask his next question. It was only natural they were curious, she guessed.

"Who do you take after? We've not really met your dad but from what you've told us I personally can't see you being like him."

"Uh, Simon says I'm a lot like my mum but I don't- I can't see it? My mum was really, _really_ pretty and she was talented at everything she put her mind to. I think he just says it to cheer me up." Despite how she felt, she couldn't really help the grin that spread across her face as she thought about her mother. "My dad wanted me to be more like her, but when he saw me excelling at musical things instead of my academics he wanted me to be less like her."

"Was she the one who taught you how to play music?" Bonnibel asked in that lovely soothing way she did.

Marceline hummed and nodded, giving Bonnie's hand a squeeze just to let her know that she was fine with the particular line of conversation they were heading down and swallowed the spit that had gathered in her throat.. "She taught me how to play guitar, which lead to me getting a bass for my sixth birthday. She was _amazing_ at playing the piano so of course when I stayed with Simon I pestered him into teaching me and eventually he bought me one of those gorgeous brown grand pianos and I fell in love with it and kind of neglected everything else. He also tried to teach me how to play the drums but I have no sense of beat whatsoever and my dad specifically told him 'no loud instruments'."

"You really admire her, huh?" Bonnibel breathed through a genuine smile. Marceline gave a nod, looked at her half eaten burger, and _almost_ broke down crying.

"I'm gonna jet," She said. "My dad wanted me home early so I could run some errands for him."

"Oh yeah, drop a bombshell and scatter. Good job Abadeer," The soft kick that Phoebe gave to her leg told Marceline that she was okay, and she gave Bonnie a kiss to the temple before making her swift exit.

* * *

Marceline felt all kinds of exhausted. She kind of assumed that dumping all of her emotional baggage onto her friends had caused it; she hadn't done that in a long time. Her time at the school she had gone to before moving to Oakdale had been spent brooding and glaring at the locals from a park well away from the school building itself. Her attendance since then had improved greatly, but there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't want to leave all her lessons and go hang out with Keila and Marshall.

"You're a mess," She huffed to herself into her pillow. The moment she'd gotten home her father had practically told her to finish unpacking everything from the boxes that still crowded one corner of her room. Naturally she'd emptied only one box before collapsing onto her bed to listen to the radio chatter indistinctly in the background. _Will I ever show my face around them again?_ "Probably not," _Am I going to change my name and move to a different country._ "Of course. That's the only way out of this situation."

Her phone pinged from her back pocket and Marceline found herself groaning at the thought of even moving a muscle from her sprawled out position.

 ** _Bonnie (3:34):_** _Are you okay? Do you wanna hang out with us and drink cheep beer again?_

 ** _Marceline (3:34):_** _I'll be over as soon as I can, I've gotta sneak past daddy dearest. Your house?_

 ** _Bonnie (3:35):_** _Yes, bring alcohol xxx_

That was quite possibly the best text she'd received from Bonnibel. Marceline snuck downstairs and into the liquor cabinet without a hiccup. She emptied all of her school things out onto her desk, tucking the bottles inside and zipping it up as if she was doing some mission impossible type shtick.

She shouldered her bag and slipped her trusty battered converse on, deciding on the lie to tell her dad as she descended the stairs once more. She'd put one foot in the doorway of the kitchen when Hudson looked up with an arched brow and disapproving stare.

"And where do you think you're going?" He downright drawled.

"Bonnie has top secret information on a pop quiz happening on Monday so I thought I'd go down and study with her? I'll probably be back in the morning," She added the last part when the realisation that coming home drunk was not something in her best interest.

"Have you emptied the moving boxes?"

"Yes." She lied through her teeth, baring them in a slanted grin.

With that, Hudson sighed in defeat and looked back down at the paperwork before him. "Be back before dinner."

Marceline flounced out of the kitchen and clambered into her car with the same amount of enthusiasm as her five year old self finding out the wonders of bubble wrap. The radio in her car buzzed on about knife crimes rising in RedGate and gang warfare in the east. Marceline slipped a CD in and listened to the pleasant sounds of the Air For Free album Simon had sent her as a late Christmas present.

By the time she parked up in front of Bonnibel's house Lady had seemingly already arrived, and a nice looking, vivid orange electric scooter was parked up across the street that wasn't there usually. Marceline smirked when her first thought was Phoebe.

Because manners were a thing (courtesy of Simon) she knocked on the front door of her girlfriends house and waited patiently outside with a bag full of her fathers alcohol. It felt a little strange; she had been given a thumbs up from Bonnie to enter whenever she wanted to, as long as her parents weren't home.

It was Liam who opened the door. "Here for the sleepover, eh?" He gave her bag a knowing smile and moved to the side to let Marceline in. "Be responsible, Marceline." He called after her as she thanked him and went up the stairs to Bonnie's room.

Jake and Phoebe had taken over almost all of the beanbag chairs, much to Marceline's dismay, and Lady was sat on her favourite coloured one. Bonnibel was busying herself with the TV when Marceline walked in, closing the door with her foot.

"I brought fun things," Marceline called in greeting, shrugging off the bag and placing it on the bed. "Does anyone here like old man drinks?" _Rum, rum, whiskey, rum, gin, rum, vodka, rum… I wonder what dad drinks when he's feeling stressed out?_ "Also, I hope someone brought coke."

"We're not Ash," Phoebe joked, but pulled open her own bag of soda's and sugary drinks. Jake seemed to be on snack duty; glancing into his bag Marceline could see a shit ton of popcorn, slim jims, candy and nachos. "Are we drinking now or, you know, after we've played a bit of whatever Bonnibel wants us to play."

Marceline arched her brow and looked over to her girlfriend, now staring down in confusion at the TV remote.

"Need any help over there?" She teased, sliding over to Bonnie to prod a finger into her waist. "Is this an amp situation?"

Bonnibel rolled her eyes, despite the snicker that left her mouth. "I'm not entirely useless, it's just this remote has no source button and I've pressed nearly every button that closely resembles one."

"Odd," Marceline breathed, looking over Bonnibel's shoulder to inspect the remote herself. "Maybe it's on the side of the TV? My old computer monitor used to be like that." She found herself being handed the remote as Bonnie went over to run her hand down one side of the TV. The look on Bonnibel's face and the fact that she received a kiss on the cheek told Marceline that it was in fact on the side of the TV.

The words _Twister: Online_ came swirling onto the screen and Marceline suddenly realised that she was about to get up close and personal with the rest of her friends. "How does twister work online?" She asked, watching as Bonnibel put a mat down with the usual colourful circles and a wire attached to it leading to the console.

"Basically the same, but it's more accurate." Lady replied. "If you touch any of the white space you lose, and if you touch a different colour you also lose. You get points at the end of the round and it works as a sort of elimination type deal. We have a fun rule that if you win you take a shot."

"Sounds interesting," Marceline watched as Bonnibel finished setting the game up. "Who's up first?"

"You and Phoebe," Bonnie said around a smile before kissing Marceline. "Good luck."

 _"Left hand red."_ The TV called out on Marceline's go. Already, her friends were probably getting a good view of her ass. _"Right foot red_." Phoebe complained loudly at having the same colour, but very easily stepped onto the first red dot in front of her. _Left foot green_ was Marceline's next issued command, to which she swore at and stretched her body over the mat.

"Why is Phoebe getting all the easy ones?" Jake asked around his mirth when they were ten rounds in. "Marceline is literally breaking her back for this and Phoebe has her ass in her face. Doesn't seem fair to me."

Marceline snorted. "This game can eat my ass," She huffed, putting her right hand on yellow, between Phoebe's arm and leg. "I'm already sore from the gym."

"I don't know guys, this game is rather fun." Phoebe laughed, before getting the command _right hand blue_ and realising that the only blue circle left was the one at the other end of the mat, over or under Marceline. "Fuck."

"Ha," Marceline barked, somehow still holding herself up despite the odd pretzel shape she was in. "You have to turn around _and_ get to the other side. Eat my ass."

Phoebe just stood up and took the _Game Over_ screen with a grin that was still somehow victorious. "Take your shot, Abadeer."

 _Oh yeah, fuck_.

Marceline ended up losing to Lady, who was extremely flexible and also on her third shot. Lady took the crown of the fourth shot and Marceline simply commented on how Jake was super lucky.

The rest of the night kind of ended up being a blur to Marceline.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm writing this on the 24** **th** **but I can't publish it because I have no internet. Here's hoping to me getting internet tomorrow or Saturday. Anyway, future me can take the wheel:**

 **I had a few more complications along the way; the file got corrupted and the only way i could save it was by reverting to the save i made when i had internet which meant losing a couple thousand words. this is still 4.7k words, though, was originally going to be 6k but as you can imagine the corruption set me back a little back. :(**

 **Content Warnings: Brad/Ash (Brash), Finn!, this is one of the few chapters that doesn't have have much Bonnie in it, blood/violence mention, guns, alcohol, (the two things that shouldn't be together), drug mention, drug use, PTSD.**

* * *

"I thought I told you to stop asking questions,"

Marceline didn't really know how she got in the situation she was in, pressed between a wall and Ash Mercer with no one but Brad to make sure he didn't kill her. It had started off as a fairly normal conversation; she'd initially gone over to the two to thank them for visiting Finn in the hospital when Jake couldn't. That went downhill when she realised Ash had probably gone to get his drug money from the poor kid and she started asking him what kind of stuff he got from Marshall and suddenly his forearm was against her throat.

Even with the hot breath of the boy washing over her face and the throbbing at her temple, Marceline didn't feel as scared as she would've been if it were just the two of them. Brad seemed to keep him calm, in some odd fucked up kind of way, which meant she just had to keep him there and she could get some answers.

"I thought buying drugs was supposed to be a private thing." She spat back. "Marshall seemed pretty upfront about you and Brad buying everything he had."

Ash's grey eyes flicked to Brad, softened in a way that Marceline had never seen before, and then he dropped his arm. "Marshall is the only guy near Oakdale that has common sense." Marceline held back the snort in the back of her throat. "He's… an idiot, but he knows what he's doing with his pills."

"If you stop harassing Finn I'll stop getting in your business." She lied, not making any move to step away from the wall even when Ash took a stride back.

"And if either of us break our end of the promise?" _Oh good, at least he's being truthful._ "What are you going to do then?"

Marceline exhaled heavily, rolling her eyes up in thought. "I dunno, I guess I'll do a little digging and get daddy dearest to buy a few business in my favour. Like, I don't know, Ricardio's place? _The school_? I'm sure he can persuade a few people to knock down the mill in the woods and build something else."

"I forget your fathers Hudson Abadeer," Ash breathed, eye and mouth twitching as if he was about to give in. "But then again, what's a respectful man like your father going to do when he's known for buying out a renowned drug den?"

"Respectful?" Marceline scoffed, confidently took a step forwards this time, watched with a sly smirk when Ash's eyes widened. "Oh, Ashykins, you really don't know my father."

"Fine," Ash mumbled. _Good. Higher ground means I can get away with a few more things._ "But tell that kid friend of yours to give Brad his firearm back."

"Finn has a _gun_?"

"You didn't know? He's had it since Elle broke up with me, Brad was teaching him how to shoot near the mill."

Brad shifted from his slouched position against the wall and finally stepped between Ash and Marceline. "Get it back, you leave each other alone. Got that?"

 _Why the hell would Finn keep a gun?_ "Yeah, sure."

"I'm down with this arrangement." Ash nodded. "And tell Elle that she has shit taste in women."

Marceline snorted and turned on her heel to leave. "I'm quite a step up from her taste in men, though."

* * *

The talk of the school for the entire day was that Ash was throwing a party in the evening and that he'd invited everyone; the sporty kids, Ellen's popular friends, even Phoebe had an invite that her father had made her decline. Marceline couldn't really think of anything worse than having Ash in a closed space with a bunch of people. However, her main mission of the day was to find Finn, ask him to give the gun back and then go see her girlfriend who was sick at home. _So much for one hundred percent attendance, Bon._

So far the only difficult part of her plan that Marceline had found was actually finding Finn. She'd looked pretty much everywhere (read: the cafeteria, the empty room that his brother and Lady were in) and she still couldn't locate the blonde haired boy. Naturally, she found him when she wasn't even looking, leant against the wall next to Phoebe's locker wearing a huge smile on his face.

"So wanna go bowling tonight?" Marceline had caught the tail end of his awkward encounter, then.

"I'd love to, actually, but my dad is still being a butt about going somewhere after school after what happened. Maybe this weekend?" Phoebe replied, closing the locker door with a small smile, catching Marceline's eye with a nod.

"Sounds awesome, yeah," _Is that what I was like when I was crushing on Bonnie?_

Marceline shook the thought out of her head to butt into the conversation, smiling down at the both of them. "Can I borrow him?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead she took a fistful of Finn's shirt and dragged him into a empty corridor. "Don't panic, but I know you have Brad's gun and I need it."

For once in his life, Finn actually didn't panic as much as Marceline expected him to. "No? I used to, but I haven't been able to find it since-," He cut himself off as a look of realisation crossed over his face. "Since the night I lost my arm, holy shit how did I never remember why I was down there? I was getting rid of it."

Marceline just groaned, tempted to slap the boy and walk away from the situation entirely. "You're telling me the gun is somewhere in the woods?" _This boy is an imbecile. It could be anywhere, or even worse it could have been found by anyone._ The bell went off to signal the end of break, and Marceline found herself trudging along next to Finn to his lesson.

"The Mill, specifically," Finn explained, stopping by his locker to grab a textbook. "We can go get it after school if you want it so much."

 _Take care of my girlfriend or go to the mill to get a gun for Ash's boyfriend? Tough choices._ Marceline twisted her mouth in thought. "Yeah, sure. We won't be long, right?"

As the school day ended Marceline found herself sat in her car waiting for Finn. The thought of going back to the mill was tiptoeing around the corners of her mind, the image of her friend bloody and quite literally torn apart, passing out on her and nearly bleeding out- no, s _top thinking about it._ Sounds rushed back to her, then, as if shaking the thought from her head had switched reality back on; the sounds of happy students in the parking lot, the thrumming of engines, the music on her phone.

Marceline's forehead collided with the steering wheel. _I'm not stable enough for this._ Inhaling sharply, she took her phone from the dashboard of the car and texted her girlfriend.

 ** _Marceline (3:45):_** _I don't think I'll be able to come over, bon, sleuthing is turning out to be a full time job. Plus my dad is suddenly worried that I'll be attacked and won't let me stay over at yours this week._

 ** _Bonnie (3:45):_** _That's fine! I'm feeling better than I did this morning._

 ** _Bonnie (3:46):_** _Good luck, Louis Lane xxxx_

Marceline almost jumped out of her skin when Finn opened the passenger door of her car and sidled in next to her, shooting her a boyish grin. "Let's go find a gun, yeah?"

Despite Finn's unbridled enthusiasm, the positivity didn't rub off on Marceline. "Can I ask you something serious for a second?" The smile on his face wavered, brows twitched and dipped down. "Do you get nightmares? Or… like, flashbacks?"

"Of the night I lost my arm? Not really. The doctors said I might do, PTSD and all that, but I've not really… no flashbacks. I get a really painful sensation where it used to be, but they said eighty percent of amputees experience that." And then Finn asked the most loaded question he could have asked. "Do you?"

 _Yes, every time I close my eyes all I can see is you and your damn arm._ "Not really, I've not slept," _At all_. "that much. Uh,"

"You need to work on your lying face, Abadeer." Finn said through a half laugh. "You didn't have to answer, and I'm not going to ask why you lied. I am however going to press you to start moving. The mill is a while away and I don't want to get there when it's dark."

 _Valid._

* * *

Truth be told Marceline had started hyperventilating the moment she'd pulled up on the road beside the wooded area surrounding the entire east side of Oakdale like a wall. She managed to mask it well though, sliding out of the car before Finn could ask anything and trekked on behind him through the sparser side of the forest.

"So what's the deal with this mill, then?" Marceline asked once she'd calmed down enough. Finn said something that she didn't entirely hear over the sound of her heart thudding, but she managed to make out 'it smells like piss, though' and thought she'd laugh to make it seem like she wasn't panicking over nothing. He continued talking about something or other and Marceline continued trying too hard to not let her thoughts linger on his lack of arm.

"I don't know why people are so scared of it," He was closer now, and louder, and Marceline looked up to see he'd slowed down to walk beside her. "It's really not so bad, promise. Even Bonnie used to go every once in a while."

"Bonnie used to go to the mill?" She blurted, coming to a dead halt. Now that they were here during the day, she could clearly see that the whole wooded area was on an incline. The mill was peeking through the trees at the top most point of the hill.

"No, idiot. Therapy; you should go." At Marceline's wordlessness, Finn gave her a warm smile. "Think about it, yeah?" He turned to continue walking, only to turn around once more with a more thoughtful look on his face. "Actually, Bonnie did go to the mill. We all did. Ash and his minions used to gather around there and drink beer."

Ignoring the first half of what he'd said to her, Marceline just rolled her eyes and focussed on getting to the mill. "I'm glad Bonnie has a better taste in people persons." She yawned. "Because Ash is not a person, and he certainly isn't people. Not respectful enough."

Finn's brow furrowed. "You speak weird."

" _I_ speak weird? You should tell your brother that, he says the word folk like it's the eighteen hundreds and he's even got me saying it."

"Yeah," Finn agreed, yelping as he almost tripped over a stray branch. Marceline pretended to see nothing. "But you say foodstuffs and y'all, and _people persons_ as if they make any sense."

"Touché." Marceline muttered around a smile. "Maybe I just think your little gaggle of nerds needs a little weird."

Finn raised four fingers to wave in her face. " _Gaggle_. We need a Marceline dictionary, just for these crazy words."

She was tempted to roll her eyes at him, but found herself hushing Finn because _why the fuck is someone playing music in these woods are they crazy?_ The low thrumming was almost too quiet for her to hear, but the slight pause after Finn had disrespected her speaking habits made for a perfect window of silence.

"Sounds like it's coming from up there," Finn levelled a finger to the mill in the distance and frowned. "Which is nuts; they made sure no one could get in after the whole hostage thing."

"People are nuts," Marceline confirmed. "C'mon, I doubt there's going to be a lot of people, just like… hoodlums and whoever, right?"

"Hoodlums don't sound safe, Marceline." Finn hissed, following her anyway. "Google is telling me they're involved in crime and _violence_."

Marceline just snorted at the fact he'd searched up the word _hoodlum_ and carried on her way to the mill.

As predicted by Finn, the closer they got to the mill the louder the low bass got. They both shared a look when they reached a brand new looking chain link fence, broken and beaten down already, with a trodden path leading up to the looming building in the distance.

The yard in front of it was full of old rotting timber, wooden pallets were scattered around, sitting splintered and neglected probably for years. Marceline's eyes trained in on rusty saws and other sharp tools distributed around for anyone to grab and pin Finn down and-

"We should probably go in through the back entrance." Finn interrupted her train of thought. "I _really_ don't wanna interrupt whoever is in there."

Marceline just dumbly nodded, forcing herself to look away from one of the circular blades to follow Finn up to the infamous mill. "This place used to be a sawmill?" She asked absent mindedly, kicking away a twig and scuffing her shoes. "What happened to it?"

"Just went out of business." He shrugged. _Which doesn't make any sense, there's still plenty of wood around here. How does a saw mill in the middle of a fucking wooded area go out of business just like that?_

Marceline managed to shoulder a door open for Finn, allowing him to pass through and comment on the choice of the music the 'hoodlums' had chosen. Marceline followed grouchily as Finn hazily began to retrace his steps.

"I don't- maybe I went upstairs?" He glanced to his left, bringing a set of broken and rotten stairs to Marceline's attention.

"How the fuck did you get up there on your own in the dark?" Marceline spluttered. "I don't even think I can get up there now."

Finn laughed softly and put his hand on the railing, taking careful steps up to the third step. He glanced back at Marceline expectantly. "Are you coming?"

The first stair creaked under her weight, and the second, third and fourth all buckled at the sudden pressure. Finn was already on the second floor when a step under Marceline gave in completely, sending her falling forwards into the rest.

"Shit, Marceline are you okay?"

"Tell Bonnie I love her," Marceline groaned jokingly, picking herself up and dusting splinters and other things from her person. "Yeah, I'm good. Give me a hand getting up?"

They both laughed at the joke and Finn very politely offered his shirt to cling onto as Marceline clambered up onto the second floor and grimaced at the thick layer of dust that coated the wood and now her hands.

As Finn muttered something or other about the whereabouts of the gun, Marceline shuffled over to the balcony that overlooked the main area of the first floor. The huge circular saw in the middle of the room should've been the first thing that caught her attention, but instead she saw the throngs of teenagers. Ash was among them, waving a bottle of beer around with his arm slung loosely around Brad's shoulders. If Marceline looked a little closer, she would've seen Brad's arm around the other boys waist.

Ash's eyes trailed upwards then, as he took a drink, and his brows furrowed a little when they locked onto Marceline. "Abadeer!" He called, grinning a little too widely for Marceline's comfort. He pulled away from Brad entirely, striding over so that he was under the balcony. "Didn't take you for the partying type."

"I'm not," Marceline grumbled under her breath, watching as Finn came over to the railing to peek over, waving at a few of his friends. "We're uh, here to get that thing," She called back to him, nodding at her friend in hopes that the two braincells that Ash Mercer had would connect the dots.

Luckily, they did. "Go ahead," He waved them off, turning back to Brad. "When you've finished make sure you grab a drink. You're as tightly wound as Elle is,"

Marceline snorted and pushed off from the railing, glancing over at Finn who was prodding around near more circular saws behind them, seemingly focused on something beneath one of the wooden logs in the middle of two of the four saws.

"Abadeer, I need your lanky arms,"

"You people realise I have a first name, right?" Marceline huffed, shuffling down beside Finn to look at something shiny and metallic lodged underneath the timber. She squeezed between the two saws and dipped her hand to grasp at the handgun on the floor. "I swear to fuck, if I get bit by a rat I'll sue your ass." She hissed back at Finn, trying to dislodge the weapon from whatever it was stuck on. "This thing isn't loaded, right?"

"Uh, no?" Finn replied, a little unsure of himself.

Marceline rolled her eyes and tugged at it once more, sending her flying back into Finn's legs. She held the gun up between her finger and thumb and glowered up at Finn through her mane of hair. "We're taking this to Brad, then we're getting out of here."

A pout emerged on Finn's face. "Ash invited us to party," He whined. "Can't we at least hang out for an hour?"

Marceline closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. "Fine. But only for an hour. I wanna get home and take a bath, god knows sort of diseases have festered in here."

She hid the gun in her pants, hiding the handle with her shirt and hoodie before she followed Finn back towards the ruined stairs. She watched as Finn leapt down and flounced off towards where the party was, leaving Marceline to settle down on the top of the stairs and gently push herself off the edge.

"Where's your girlfriend? The redhead, feisty, ginger?" Ash was already pestering Finn when Marceline entered the main section of the sawmill.

"Leave him alone, dildo. We have Brad's compensation for his dick."

Ash frowned but led Marceline towards where Brad was lounging behind the other side of the main circular saw, cans of beer discarded around him and a dazed look on his face from the alcohol. "Abadeer!" The same greeting left his lips, more genuine than Ash's but still equally as . "I assume you're here with Finn because you have my glock?"

 _Don't make a joke about the size of his glock, for gods sake Marceline do not._ "Yeah, here." She threw the gun onto his lap and crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh.

"Are you staying for a drink?" Brad asked, eyeing Finn who had materialised a bottle of beer in his hand. "Or have you better things to do, like my boys ex-girlfriend?"

"Your boy?" Marceline snorted. "Sounds like your the one with something better to do."

Ash gave her a look but surprisingly said nothing at all as he sat beside Brad on the edge of the saw. Brad just gave them both an odd looking grin.

"Enjoy yourselves, yeah? Grab a beer and settle down somewhere." Brad waved them off as they went back to the main throng of people.

"So are you and Ash buddies now?" Finn teased, elbowing her side and narrowly missing both of their shirts with a splash of beer.

"We're being civil." Marceline replied.

* * *

Marceline stumbled up the driveway, arm slung around Finn who was the most sober of the two. Liam opened the door, of course he did, and he immediately clocked onto the fact that they were both a little more intoxicated than they let on.

"Hello Mr B," Marceline slurred, giving him a little wave and a grin. "Can I crash here tonight? My dad would _literally kill me_ if he found out I'd been drinking."

Liam gave her a warm smile. "Of course, Marceline. I'll call up your father and tell him not to worry. Finn?"

"Nah, don't stress about me, I called Jake to pick me up." And with that, Finn left Marceline to shuffle in and take a good look around at her spinning surroundings.

"Bonnie, your girlfriend's here!" Liam called from the bottom of the stairs. He seemed to then leave Marceline to sway in front of the kitchen cabinets and giggle at her reflection in the glass.

"Marceline, it's nearly midnight." Bonnibel's voice came from behind her. Then Marceline found herself being hugged from behind and felt a kiss pressed against the nape of her neck. "Are you drunk?"

Marceline scoffed. " _No_ ,"

Bonnibel squeezed her gently before she span her around. "Are you sure? You smell like dust and alcohol."

"I went to the mill," Marceline hummed. "Ash offered us drinks. Did you know Finn was in debt to those two dildos and had a gun? I helped him out, though, because I'm chivalrous. He wants me to go to therapy, says I have PTSD."

"I told him to ask you, actually," Bonnibel cooed, brushing hair from Marceline's face. "I've noticed you don't sleep as well as you used to. I want you to be able to talk to someone."

There was a pause as Marceline leaned forward to kiss Bonnibel, clumsy and messy because of the alcohol. "As for Ash and Finn… I know about their history. I was kind of the start of it; I didn't do what Ash told me to so Finn being Finn offered to help him out."

"He also said you went to the mill," Marceline huffed. "God, my dad is gonna kill me. Can you smell the weed on me? Everyone at that party was high as fuck."

"Everyone at parties usually are around here." Bonnibel said through a grin. "Ash supplies them,"

"Marshall supplies Ash," Marceline giggled. "Which is weird. My ex supplies the top dog. Wow. I'm horny,"

Bonnibel laughed gently, pressing kisses to Marceline's cheeks and nose. "You're always horny. Come on, lets get you some aspirin and some water."

* * *

"I want you to move out," Was the greeting she received from her father when she got home the next day a little bit later than planned. (It was Bonnibel's fault). _Perfect opportunity to tell my dad about my plans with Bonnibel_. "I assume you have arrangments already judging by the smile on your face?"

"Actually," Marceline started, sliding up onto the kitchen counter. "Yes; Bonnie offered to move in with me a while ago and we've been going over it for a month or so. She wants to move out for college anyway and I've been thinking that moving around with you is kind of ruining my chances of ever actually graduating. The apartment we've been looking at is near the school building and it's only a five minute drive to the charity shop."

Hudson's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the amount of planning Marceline had gone into. He sighed nonetheless though and closed his newspaper. "I was going to suggest moving in on your own. But if you move in with Bonnibel then that would lessen the male companions you bring over."

Marceline snorted. _It's now or never._ "Yeah, I don't think moving in with Bonnie will lessen the amount of sex I'll be potentially having, if that's what you're insinuating." And if she knew anything about her father, which she did, he was definitely insinuating something. "If anything it'll increase the chances; we've been dating for over a month now." Hudson spluttered, his face going a shade of red that Marceline had never seen. "Anyway, glad we're on the same page daddy. I'll tell Bonnie you agree and tell her to pay the deposit." She gave him a peck on the cheek and skipped off into her bedroom.

 _That could've gone way worse_.

 ** _Marceline (12:42):_** _Hey, dad actually told me he wanted to move out. So ofc I told him we were dating and were getting that apartment._

 ** _Bonnie (12:43):_** _How did he take the news?_

 ** _Marceline (12:43):_** _I don't actually know, I ran off before he could say anything. Might've told him about the ample amounts of sex we're going to have, though._

 ** _Bonnie (12:44):_** _Of course you did._

 ** _Finn (12:45):_** _Thanks for getting me out of that stuff with Brad and Ash._

 ** _Marceline (12:45):_** _No problem Just don't do anything dumb and we're good._

Marceline exhaled slowly, feeling the exhaustion of the past month really seep into her body. _Perhaps,_ she thought, even as she slipped into a heavy sleep, _I'll call Keila later._


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: This… was meant to be up a while ago. But, hey! We have a whole cast now!**

 **Content warnings: side characters aren't side characters any more, more brash, some sex/kink talk, blood mention, vomit mention, a birth, abuse mention. Is that all? probably not.**

* * *

The morning fog wasn't really lifting. Marceline had assumed it would; having been up for the majority of the night because of nightmares and unconsciously keeping track of the sparse mist that lingered around like Ash did on the corridors in school. Bonnibel had suggested that the group meet up at the diner for an impromptu study session because of an assignment they were being set the next week, and Marceline watched glumly from her seat at the window as a stray paper bag tumbled steadily across the parking lot from the breeze.

"You seem particularly broody today Abadeer," Phoebe joked into her mug of coffee. She even went as far as to kick Marceline's shin with her boot clad feet and grin at her. "What's gotten into you?"

"I'm betting it's not Bonnie," Lady commented with a sly smirk, sending Marceline a knowing smile. She'd already commented on the lack of hickeys on her neck prior to this conversation, anyway. Marceline snorted. "Sex life is good, thanks," She muttered, sending a glance over at her girlfriend who was electing to stay quiet all of a sudden. _Strategic silence, of course Bonnibel would choose that_. "Just… thinkin', you know, about things."

"Things, yes." Lady began nodding, still wearing that cheeky smile. "Kinky things or just really filthy things?"

"Leave her alone," Bonnibel warned, although smiling a dangerously similar smile. "She hasn't been sleeping all too great and moving twice in a really short amount of times is probably piling the stress on."

Marceline hummed in agreement. "It is. But, actually, I'm more content with this move than I have been with any other. Looking forward to ordering take out every evening and snuggling up next to you every night," She smiled warmly at her girlfriend and pressed her finger to a freckled nose. Bonnibel just shifted up to kiss it. "Sleeping hasn't been my strongest suit anyway, too many thoughts racing around in my brain."

"Oh, you'll love living with Bonnie," Jake said, and Marceline couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "She has lavender scented throw pillows and is an advocate for warm milk and soft music before bed."

"And you'll be fucking more often," Phoebe gleefully pointed out. "That's sure to make you way more tired afterwards."

"Why is our sex life so important to you guys?" Bonnibel asked, a little disgusted and yet still amused at their friends. "Don't you have your own to talk about?"

"It's cute that you have a girlfriend all of a sudden, sue us," Lady frowned. "Also, me and Jake are all about living a sex filled life."

Marceline screwed her face up in utter disgust. "Ew, didn't wanna know that you two were bonking on the regular, thanks."

"Another one for the Marceline dictionary," Finn suddenly piped up, looking away from his phone with a crooked grin. At the confused stares from the rest of the group he was forced to explain. "Marceline talks really fucking weird and it's stressful. She says people persons and bonking and _y'all_ on the regular. What the fuck? Who does that?"

Marceline opened her mouth to reply to him, but over his shoulder two familiar faces waltzed in and Marceline found it very difficult to do anything but hide her face with the menu. _Yes, very grease-esque._

"Marcymoo!"

"Marmalade!"

Keila's greeting was a lot less loud than Marshall's had been, but she did take the menu from her and seat herself in her lap. Marshall remained stood, much to the relief of Finn who was sat on the end of the other seat, and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"We missed you, Marcy, are these your new friends? Ooh, is this your girlfriend you've been drooling over? Why didn't you tell us you were moving out? Hearing from Hudson is such a disappointment, Marcymoo."

Finn snorted at the nickname. "You didn't tell us your friends were coming this week," He said, watching as Marshall rocked back on his heels to take a good look at each and every one of them.

"Because they're exhausting," Marceline replied through a sigh, glaring at Keila on her knee. "Get your pregnant ass off of my knee."

"Get your knee off of my pregnant ass,"

"Fuck off." She grouched out, pushing Keila off of her with a huff. "I'm trying to have my breakfast." Keila glanced down at the untouched stack of pancakes in front of Marceline and arched her brow. " _Fuck off_ ,"

"You're as lovely as ever, Marmar," Marshall tipped back onto his heels a second time and poked her cheek with his forefinger. "Sometimes I wonder why I miss you so much and then I remember; you're always such a delight in the mornings."

"Lack of sex," Phoebe teased, earning a high five from Lady.

Marshall's eyebrows shot up almost comically and he looked straight at Bonnie. "You're not screwing? Marceline told me you were screwing? Why'd you lie to me, Mar?"

 _Why on earth would Phoebe say that? I thought we were good._ After sending a quick glare at Phoebe, Marceline found herself rolling her eyes as Marshall's finger returned to prodding at her cheek. "I could ask you two the same thing, thanks."

"He was bait for your dad," Keila shot back teasingly, almost expecting Marceline's answer. "Because someone decided to question their sexuality in her living room with her father home."

Feeling a blush creeping up her neck, Marceline spluttered and huffed to find a good response, much to the amusement of her friends. "I- You're not- That's not even close to what I was doing."

"Oh, yeah? Bonnibel, has Marceline ever 'accidentally' asked you to kiss her?"

Bonnibel's face was pure evil. "I wouldn't call it an accident, no. Why don't you share with us what happened?" From the other end of the table, Lady and Phoebe were cackling.

"Keila, I swear to god-,"

"She basically made it out as if she kissed _all_ her friends with tongue,"

Marshall chose then to stop prodding and cooed teasingly instead. "Aw, Marcymoo, sounds like you were really confused about your sexuality."

"Fucking hell I hate both of you so much can you go home already?"

"Bonnie did some questionable things before coming out, too." Jake muttered under his breath. "If I remember correctly she got drunk and-," He would've finished that sentence if Bonnibel hadn't of kicked his shin under the table. "You know what? Different red head, never mind."

"Thought so," Bonnibel shot back darkly. "I have blackmail material on all of you sat at this table, so don't even think of trying anything."

Marceline frowned. "What do you have on me?" At Bonnibel's sly smirk, Marceline inhaled sharply and chose her words carefully. "Is it bad? I know you've read my files and-,"

"Nothing bad," Bonnibel sang. "In fact I think it's really good."

"I'm confused," Finn said. "Can you two let us in on what you're talking about?"

"I don't even know, Finn, and it's about me."

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and huffed. "I'm talking about your praise kink that you so obviously have, idiot." Everyone apart from Lady, who snorted and covered her mouth with both hands, slipped further into confusion.

"My what?" Marceline spluttered.

"You like to be praised, Marceline. You know, like when I call you a good girl and kitten and-," Marceline slapped her palm over Bonnibel's mouth, muffling the next word that came out of her mouth. The first person to realise what Bonnibel had just insinuated was Marshall.

"Holy shit, Marcy, _Kitten?_ " Marceline made a kick towards Marshall's shins, only for him to jump backwards out of reach. "That's kinky."

"I do _not_ have a praise kink." She hissed at him, shooting a glare at Keila who was smirking. Lady continued to snicker under the clasp of her hands.

Despite Bonnibel's persistent licking and nibbling of Marceline's palm, she didn't take her hand away until Marshall had stopped grinning. As soon as she did, Marceline's cheek was met with an apologetic kiss to her jaw. There was a please little sound in the back of Bonnibel's throat when Marceline turned her head to the side so she could kiss her properly, half to spite Marshall and half just to shut Bonnibel up before she let any other secrets out of that pretty mouth of hers. Although there was a tiny part of her that just wanted to kiss Bonnibel, a rare moment for her in front of their friends.

Her food was left to go cold.

* * *

There was a crowd of students huddling by the door in the cafeteria, all of which looked very upset and disheartened. Phoebe and Lady were at the front of said group, angrier than the rest and talking very heatedly with one of the teachers guarding the double doors.

Marceline shuffled through the throng of students, muttering 'move, nerds' when a few of the younger students pressed closer together. She took note of Ash leaning against the wall next to the other teacher, mumbling something softly to Brad who seemed to be scowling permanently. Their eyes met and he nodded solemnly to her, furthering her confusion.

And then there was Ellen, dark purple hair piled in curls on top of her head. She seemed completely unbothered by everything going on, rolling her eyes at her phone screen and texting away. Seemed like she was there for Brad's moral support and was doing terribly at it. Marceline flipped her off and began to make her way to where most of the commotion.

"What's going on?" She asked, finally breaking through the crowd to where Finn was. The poor blonde looked entirely dishevelled.

"You _can't_ cut it down," Lady feverishly continued despite the bored look on the teachers face. "It's- It's our tree, we study there every year. Where are we supposed to go?"

"We're issuing study rooms to the arts classrooms," The teacher started.

Phoebe was _very_ quick to cut him off. "So you're cutting down a tree that's been here since before our parents went to school here _and_ you're getting rid of the art classrooms? What next? You're going to make us stay cooped up inside at break and lunch?"

"Miss Allen, we understand your frustrations, but-,"

"It's not just her frustration though," Finn suddenly pitched in. "We're all angry about this sudden change that you've only just decided to tell us about."

"They're cutting down the tree?" Marceline finally found her voice. "What the _fuck_? Are you insane? Where's Bonnie, she's the student body president, right? Can't she do something about this?"

Finn levelled a finger over the teachers shoulder to point in the direction of the great willow tree on the hill. Marceline squinted past him and saw a familiar blob of pink in front of the tree, seemingly leading another group of students in a protest. _That's my girl._ "Fuck you," She shouldered past both teachers and the two doors, holding them open for the crowd to rush forwards and start making their way towards where the tree was.

"Abadeer," Ash's voice was behind her, joining the students and their trek up the hill. "They're not just taking the art classrooms, music too. They wanna put an extra building up on the hill for a bigger sports hall."

Marceline narrowed her eyes past him, focussing on principle Johnson now storming out of the same double doors they had rushed through. "Go find Bonnie and the others, make sure you don't give up whatever happens to me down there."

Ash's brows dipped down in confusion and Marceline patted his shoulder before turning on her heel to trace her steps back to the principle. _Am I doing this? Yes. Am I going to get expelled? Most likely._

"Hey, Johnson!" She called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "You want to get rid of the arts department? Fuck you, you dickhead." The cheer from the crowd behind her ushered her on with confidence. "Build your fancy sports somewhere else or you'll have no students to use it."

"Abadeer." The principle was only a few steps in front of her now, a seething look on his face. "Take your group of rebels and go to your lessons immediately or you'll see yourselves excluded."

"We're expressing our rights to freedom of speech, asshole." The principle opened his mouth to speak once more, only Marceline beat him to it. "Exclude me, go ahead, that's not gonna stop the rest of us from protesting against your bullshit choice. That tree up there means a fucking lot to these students, it means a lot to me because I finally have a group of friends I can call family and we hang out up there. Even _Bonnibel,_ your prize student, is up there. Hell, she's _leading_ the protest."

"Fair enough, Marceline, you can stay up there as long as you like, but we're still coming down here with chainsaws at the end of the day."

Marceline glared just a little bit harder. "Fuck your chainsaws."

* * *

She knew the threat had been empty; just a ploy to see who exactly was going to be getting in trouble at the end of the day and who would be praised for getting hungry and going inside at lunch. At the end of the day Marceline found herself sat under the willow with a good portion of her friends. Finn had gone for his weekly check up during the second to last period and Lady had been sent home via request from her parents.

Ash was leaning against the tree, neutral expression on his face as per usual, with his headphones in. It was odd that he seemingly felt strongly about this, or perhaps this was him being 'civil'. Maybe he just wanted to seem like a good guy, get close with Bonnie again.

Marceline shook the thoughts out of her head and tried to focus in on the distant sirens in the background in an attempt to shoo away the static and white noise in her head.

"When do you think is a good time to leave a protest?" Jake asked after a few minutes of silence. He was fiddling with his earlobe, something Marceline had picked up on that meant he was nervous or not telling them something.

Bonnibel checked her watch. "Give it another half hour; if they were planning to do it within school hours they'll have to book another crew for another day."

The sirens grew closer as Jake nodded and tapped away at his phone. Marceline thumbed at her cheek as she glanced up at Ash once more, surprised to see him not listening to music any more. Instead, those grey eyes she had grown to dislike so much, were focused on something near the school building.

"There's an ambulance," He said when he noticed her staring. "You think it's for someone here?"

Marceline snorted. "I doubt the protest for a tree has turned violent."

Despite her saying that, everyone still watched as the paramedics exited the vehicle in haste. They crossed the road to the school and, "Wait," Jake muttered. "They're entering the building."

Sprinting across the grass and back into the school was a blur to Marceline, even following her friends towards where the panicked shouting was seemed like an outer body experience.

She found herself pushing through a crowd of people yet again, curiosity getting the better of her because _someone's probably just having an allergic reaction to something, or they've fallen down some stairs or-_

Red.

As soon as she broke free of the crowd that's all she could see on the floor. There was so much blood, more than Finn's arm that night in the woods, more than on her mothers face that morning on the way to school, more than when her father _hit_ and _hit_ her for finding her and Keila on the couch.

Brad's body was limp, propped against the lockers with a mangled arm outstretched, hand on the floor, palm upward. There was a half choked sob from her left, coming from what she assumed was Ash, and she heard Bonnibel gasp and throw herself into Jake's chest.

Her head started spinning at the sight, even as the paramedics started lifting him up and putting him on a stretcher. The wave of nausea hit her, then, and she turned to run to find the nearest toilets so she could throw up.

After her body rejected the tiny amount of breakfast she'd had that morning, exhaustion came over her body like a ton of bricks and she collapsed on the floor with a putrid taste of vomit lingering in her mouth. Bonnibel and Jake found her not two minutes after, and she passed out on the way home.

* * *

Marceline awoke to a throbbing in the back of her head and quiet murmurings in the room next to hers. _But… wait, I don't have a room next to mine. My bed isn't this big, either_.

She opened her eyes to find herself sprawled out in her and Bonnibel's bed, in the room that they'd been sharing for a good week now, in their apartment. _Right, yeah, I have a super awesome girlfriend who I live with now_.

She toppled out of bed with her limbs and the duvet, and ducked her head through the door to peer into the combined living room and kitchen. Her friends were all huddled in the living room, Ash on one of the stools near the island, and Bonnibel was cooking up something that smelled delightful in the kitchen.

Bonnibel must've seen her out of the corner of her eye, because she smiled over at her and gestured for her to come closer. "Brad is going to be… okay, whoever did it didn't hit anything too important and they're keeping him as stabilised as possible in the hospital. We're going down later with Ash when we can. You're invited to come with."

Ash. He was hunched on the stool, peering at his phone through puffy red eyes. Marceline actually felt bad for him.

Marceline shuffled into the kitchen, still wrapped up in their duvet, and peered over Bonnibel's shoulder to look at the food she was making. "What's cooking good looking?" Bonnibel rolled her eyes.

"Breakfast, for you." Marceline blinked, brows furrowing in confusion. "You passed out yesterday and have been asleep all night." Bonnibel explained after a second. "You need your brain fuel, yeah?"

"Foodstuffs, yeah." Marceline hummed, nodding. Then she looked over at Finn. "Added that to your dictionary, yet?"

"Actually, I have. I've compiled a list on my phone and-,"

"I don't care," Marceline cut him off. At his pout she quickly apologised. "Sorry, my brain is fried and I'm not really… I don't feel great."

She shuffled back into the bedroom when the rest of her friends began to talk about something she wasn't quite interested in. Instead she picked her phone off the bed side cabinet, grateful that Bonnibel had charged it, and found numerous missed calls from Keila and Marshall.

Marceline just rolled her eyes and called Marshall back. "Listen, I'm fine, whatever Bonnie told you is-,"

" _Keila went into labour last night,_ " Was not something Marceline expected to be breathed down the other side of the phone in a rush. " _She wants you down here, says you're the godmother or whatever. Please? I'm- I don't know what I'm doing._ "

 _Of course you don't, you dolt._ "Yeah, we're coming down later anyway. I'll ask Bonnie." _And I'm not the godmother of your unborn child. I didn't sign up for unpaid babysitting._

The car ride to the hospital was silent if not a bit tense. Marceline had practically demanded they go to the hospital then and there instead of wait, resulting in her wolfing down the food her girlfriend had made her. She hadn't even explained to them Keila's situation, nor had she bothered waiting for everyone to get ready as she stormed into the car.

This was the second time she had gone to the hospital in Jake's car. The random thought came to her as they pulled up into a parking spot and she took a glance at him turning around to the others in the car. The rest were with Lady in her little toyota. Blech.

Only, this time she was going _in_ with them. After eleven years of managing to get out of hospital visits and sitting in the car when her father went in to see his side of the family, Marceline was actually going in.

"You coming, grumps?" Phoebe asked as she opened the passenger door. Marceline inhaled sharply. "If you wanna stay here for a lil while that's okay; Bonnie explained what's going on in your head and after everything you've told us it's not at all rude."

 _They're being patient with you_.

Phoebe stepped away from the car, then, going up to Ash and Jake. The door was still open, the offer to go still there. Marceline stood when the two boys began to walk towards the entrance, a little wobbly and unsure of what she was doing, but then she found Bonnibel's hand and she followed them in.

The place smelled sterile, and the silence was a little unnerving to say the least. But Finn was saying something funny and her girlfriend was running traces along the back of her hand. Yes. Maybe she could do this.

"I gotta see Keila first," Marceline mumbled. "Finn, d'you wanna come with?"

Bonnibel gave her a squeeze. "You sure you don't want me to come?"

"I think I'm good. I just- I need to go and be _alone_ but I need someone to show me the way and-,"

"Yeah I'll go with you," Finn replied with a smile. "What's up with her?"

"Baby's coming," Marceline waved her hand vaguely. "And I'm the godmother? I dunno, where's the baby place?"

* * *

Marshall was pacing up and down the hall when they found him. His hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat and Marceline was surprised he was still standing. Finn had stopped to get a chocolate bar.

"What's up, daddio? Too soon? Or, early?" The question at least made Marshall halt and give a wavered smile, reaching out to Marceline for a sweat and weed smelling hug. "Dude, get off me."

"I'm a father, you're- you're a godmother. Finn!" The chocolate bar fell promptly to the floor as Finn yelped, Marshall picking him up and spinning him round as if they'd been friends for a while. "Where are your other nerd friends?"

"Uh, with Brad."

Marshall opened his mouth to say something, his brow furrowed and all serious for a second, but the door opened and a nurse took in the two fresh faces before turning to him. "Your daughter has arrived, if you want to see her."

"Can the beanpole come along? She's the godmother."

Marceline gave the nurse a very awkward wave before stepping into the room where Keila was laying, sweaty and breathless and holding a bundle of goo. "Marceline!" Keila called out weakly. "Hey girl, what's happening? I got a _baby_."

"What're we calling her?" Marshall asked as he perched on the edge of the bed. Marceline stood awkwardly at the end of the hospital bed.

"What was your mum called?" Keila looked up with a smile at Marceline, who began spluttering almost immediately.

"Elizabeth. You- You're _not_ calling her that, are you? You're ridiculous." _She's going to be bullied. The eighteen hundreds want their name back, and I want my mother back._

"Beth sounds nice." Marshall hummed. "Why not Beth?"

Marceline remained quiet, thinking long and hard about everything that had gone on over the past few days.

"Beth Lee?" She clocked on to why Marshall looked so amused. "Are you insane? Beth Lee ham? Is that what you were going for?"

"Alright she's having my last name," Keila decided, swatting Marshall's arm awkwardly. "Beth Taylor. Sounds nice and all."

Marceline swallowed the comments on how she did not want to be the godmother to their now born child, and smiled instead. "Sounds great, yeah." _I'm just glad you two are happy. I'm just glad you're safe._

* * *

Once she'd backed out of the room with an awkward wave and a mumble of farewell, Finn led her to where Brad was being cared for and treated. Marceline didn't even ready herself, or breathe in or count to ten, she just wandered in after Finn and wrapped her arms around Bonnibel and sighed.

"I'm a godmother, Keila's had a baby. Named her after mum. I'm… today has been exhausting and we're not even done yet."

The hand that came to smooth out her hair was calming enough for her to peer up at Brad. He had been stitched up, thank god, and Marceline could look at him for longer than two minutes without her lungs caving.

Ash was turned away from the group, facing the other boy and just _staring_. Brad looked so fragile like that, laid out with his eyes closed and a hospital gown on. He looked like her mum did, when she was in the hospital and Marceline was allowed to visit. When her father allowed her to.

Ellen was there too, standing next to Ash with eyes full of tears. They never fell.

"You okay, honey?" Bonnibel whispered, voice full of concern as she rubbed soothing circles into Marceline's shoulder blades. "Wanna go get pizza after this?

Not trusting her voice, Marceline nodded dumbly. Bonnibel just hummed and kissed her cheek, disregarding Ellen's scrutinising gaze as she gingerly took Marceline's hand in her own.

There was a knock on the door, then, and all that Marceline could think was _who else knows Brad well enough to come see him in the hospital?_

And then Braco came through the door, hands in his hoodie pockets and scarred face turned into his collar. His presence seemed odd. But that was just Marceline's brain working overdrive; he was with Brad at the party. He was one of the victims at the mill.

Ash's grey eyes, now red and puffy, turned upwards to meet Braco's. The other boy just kept his eyes trained on Brad, kept his hands in his pockets, disregarded everyone else in the room. Marceline felt Bonnibel's breath halt as soon as Braco came into the room, only resuming when Ash turned back to face his friend on the bed.

"He's gonna be fine," Ash muttered. "You don't need to be here. You can leave."

Braco's head tilted to side, like that of dog after being scolded, and his mouth turned up into a sly smirk. "Ellen _invited_ me, actually. And you're in no position to be talking to me like that."

Marceline would've applauded him for talking back to Ash, only his smile was something nastier than a smirk and she didn't really trust him enough. If it had been Finn, she might've high fived him afterwards.

As a tense minute went by, Jake cleared his throat. "Well, it feels a bit crowded in here. Glad he's okay though." He paused as he began to lead Lady and Finn out of the room, under the eyes of Ash and Ellen. "Keep him safe, Mercer."

 _That_ was unexpected. Marceline wanted to splutter and ask why he'd said that, in that low way he had done, why he had looked at Braco and not Ash or Brad. But Bonnibel was dragging her away from the room and Ellen was closing the door and through the closing crack in the door Marceline saw Ash stand.

 _What the fuck was that?_

* * *

 _"So you threatened him with my business? Is that how you do things now? What happened to playing things safe."_

"I don't feel _safe_. This town is screwed up and Mercer thought I was being pretty serious about you buying the mill." Marceline stopped in her tracks, exhaling heavily and looking up at the dark sky. It was gone two in the morning; she'd stepped outside for some fresh air while Bonnibel slept. Her mine was far too fogged to try to sleep. There was silence on the other end. "Please, dad. Just… do something? Anything that'll help me figure out why a boy was _stabbed_ in my school and why the local news and police force aren't doing anything about it."

 _"Honey, you know if I could I would, but-"_

"You have the money. I know you do, I've seen your documents that you keep in your office. I know exactly how much you'll get for doing this. I know why you came here and you do it all the fucking time. Just buy them out, buy some smaller companies like whoever owns the mill and get me us some leverage."

Her father sighed. _"And you really want to do that? You're okay with me ruining her families name?"_

Marceline swallowed. "Yeah, I'll just… I'll figure my end out dad. Just do your part, the part that you had planned this entire time since moving. Trust me. For once?"

 _"Consider it done, sweetie."_

And the phone line went dead.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Can I start this chapter off with saying that I love love love Jenna and the crack we come up for this fic (we have au's of au's for this au. It's fucking crazy). She literally motivates me to write for this when I get into my slumps. Love u lots!

This was never meant to be up as late as it was. Incredibly sorry. I just realyl... struggled with trying to come up with an adequate finish to 18. I always feel like i have to be up to scratch for you guys and that sucks the fun out of it a little. I absolutely have every intention to finish this fic.

Also, updated the playlist(s).

Content warnings: death/murder mention, LORE LORE LORE LORE, very much a background info/plot heavy chapter, more mystery and intrigue, mention of a bdsm mask, the words 'prom kids' have been used.

* * *

Marceline was avoiding her friends. She'd stayed behind after music just to give them all a head start to go to wherever they were going for lunch, just so she could wander the halls in peace to clear her head of everything that had happened the previous year. She'd moved out again, found herself becoming friends with the sort of people she'd vowed to never interact with, got a girlfriend after _years_ of questioning her sexuality, moved in with her, got herself involved with… whatever it was that Ash had planned.

She sat on her lonesome for lunch, then, sat well away from the rest of the other students as her head swam. She'd purposely left her phone at home too, just so she wouldn't get lured into checking her texts from her phone. Hopefully she could just get through the day without actually having the panic attack that was threatening to happen.

As she got up to take the empty tray to the bin, however, a recovering Brad almost knocked it out of her grip. He breezed past her and walked briskly out of the cafeteria. Clearly, he was in a hurry. Which wasn't very often, now that Marceline thought about it; Brad was only ever in a hurry for PE or his extracurriculars.

The tray was forgotten about, discarded on Marceline's now empty table as she followed far behind the boy to the history department. She didn't see which room he'd gone in, but one of rooms doors was open and she could already hear Ash's voice as she neared.

"You're damn right I wasn't supplying you that night, you still haven't paid me back and I _know_ Lee hasn't given you a heads up to not pay your fee." Marceline pressed her side against the wall, peeking through the open door to find Ash and Braco standing and eyeing each other up, Brad was still breathing hard from rushing there, leaning against the wall and holding a bandaged hand to his side and _Ellen_ was sat on one of the desks near the windows.

Braco rolled his eyes. "We were in it together, asshole. Or we _were_ until someone decided to care and pull out in case their feelings got hurt." He jabbed a thumb at Brad. "What is it with you two anyway? Finally decided to tie the knot?"

And then several things happened at once, Ash went to punch Braco, who ducked under his arm and pulled out a knife from his pocket. There was a yell, a grunt, and then Ash was clutching his cheek as he pulled out the gun that had been in his bedside cabinet, cocking it and aiming shakily. Marceline held her breath, watching as Ellen and Brad prepared for what was about to happen.

"You wouldn't," Was what came out of Braco's mouth, calm and tail ended with a breathy laugh. "You _can't_ , you're still on probation, aren't you? After what happened with Abadeer's girl? God, aren't you upset that an _Abadeer_ took your princess? Could've been me." _Wait, what the fuck._

Ash's finger twitched as he stepped forward, pressing the barrel of the gun against the other boys chest. Before anything else was said or done, the PA system crackled to life.

 _"Would the student body make their way to the gymnasium for an emergency assembly? I repeat, would the student body make their way to the gymnasium for an emergency assembly?"_ And the butt of the gun connected with Braco's eye.

Marceline rushed down the hallway they were in to a more crowded part of the school, following in pursuit as the students of Oakdale High were herded into the gymnasium, bustling and commercing with one another in a loud whisper. Marceline found herself standing by the door, eyes focussed on everyone _but_ her girlfriend; Bonnibel could handle herself, she could watch out for herself for twenty minutes during whatever was happening now. Finn and Phoebe were sat beside one another on one of the bleachers, across from Lady and Jake. The fact that they'd sat away from each other made Marceline's job just that little bit harder. Ash was nowhere to be seen.

 _Braco and Ellen aren't here either. What the fuck was Braco talking about?_ Marceline gnawed at her bottom lip til it was raw and probably swollen.

As the last few students trickled in, she caught Ellen's eyes amongst them. _Why is she smiling at me? Did she see me outside the room? Fuck._

"Alright, everybody calm down." The principle began, stepping away from the other teachers to stand in the middle of the room. Marceline rolled her eyes and took a seat on the floor, keeping a careful eye on Ellen and the devious look on her face. "I'm sure you're all aware of what happened last month. The police are taking the ordeal into their hands and as much as I know a lot of you are theorising and creating rumours, we must let them deal with it in their own way." Marceline resisted her urge to snort. _Their way is slow. They're not even focussing on it._ "However, due to this and other events that have happened in the past year; we're forced to hold off on extracurriculars, after school clubs, and the prom that we're holding in a few months." A loud noise of _complaint_ and disagreement came from the students, then, which was quickly shushed by the principle. " _However_ , we are in a… precarious position as a school and an organisation. A business proposal has been made, and we're taking into account everyone's safety. If this offer is treated with care and we choose to go along with it we may be able to host the prom at a secure venue."

And that's when her dad walked in through the doors. Funnily enough, that's also when ninety percent of the student population turned to _stare_ at Marceline. She mustered up enough courage to give them an awkward smile back.

"Hudson Abadeer has already ensured us a safer venue space and quite a large amount of money to invest in the school; meaning the arts classrooms and the prom may have a bigger budget. If we go through with this deal however we will have to cut ties with our other sponsors." _Other sponsors being Bonnibel's family. Girlfriend of year award goes to…. me._ Her father said very little, only adding confirmations or nodding when appropriate. Yes, Hudson really had this down to a T. "We hope we have cleared up a lot of confusion that you guys have been having. Thank you, you can all go back to your scheduled lessons."

There was a lot of murmured complaints as the students began to disperse, and Marceline found herself being approached by everyone but her girlfriend.

"Is your dad high?" Lady hissed out first, arms crossed angrily over her chest. "You do realise that Bonnibel's family practically owns this school? And that if they get cut then they lose a fuck load of profits, right?"

"Right, me and my dad have been through this a lot. I know how it works." Marceline drawled in reply. "I'm not happy about it, but if it means we can scare off people like Ash from messing with us then-,"

"That's why you're doing it?" Jake's stern voice cut her off. Suddenly, it was her first day again and she was terrified of the older Mertens brother. "To _scare_ Mercer? What's next, you move into the mill and tell him to go pee his pants?"

Marceline snorted and made to stand up, despite the glaring from her friends. She made herself look more interested in the straps on her bag than any of the judgemental stares. "My dad was going to do this stuff anyway, I only quickened the process."

A terrible sigh ripped through Jake's mouth then, eyes going to and from Marceline and her father. Then he said something that almost made Marceline collapse then and there. "What happened to you being more like your mum?"

"Leave her alone, Jake." _Bonnibel's_ voice came from behind them then, a little harsher than usual. "I'm sure she has good intentions behind all this. At least, I hope she does." Marceline swallowed the lump in her throat, and nodded vaguely. Bonnibel's eyes were still icy when she smiled. "Good. Go to your lessons."

As Marceline made to slide past the doors to her left, Bonnibel's arm stuck out to stop her. Marceline internally sighed as she span on heel, surprised when she found her girlfriend smiling sweetly at her.

"I haven't told you certain things," She began, almost uncertain in her tone of voice, yet the blinding grin on her face contradicted that. "And I'd rather you hear them from me than your dad or some stuck up guy in a suit holding a contract, 'kay?" When Marceline nodded dumbly, Bonnibel stood on her tiptoes to kiss her jaw. "Do you maybe wanna ditch today? This conversation is better off said over milkshakes and burgers."

Marceline's jaw slacked open. " _You_ want to truant on the last year of school this close to exams? What happened to you at the start of the year?" At Bonnibel's blush, Marceline's face softened. "Hey, nerd, 'course I'll ditch with you."

The diner was next to empty as they entered. It was odd to see customers that weren't students eating there, though, Marceline pondered as she glanced at an elderly couple in a booth.

Bonnibel pulled her over to a table in the corner, not their usual choice, and ordered them a strawberry milkshake and some fries for herself. Marceline felt very tense when Bonnibel trained those sweet eyes on her.

"If we talk about _this,_ right _now_ , you have to promise me we treat this like adults and put our relationship to the back of our minds, yeah?" Bonnibel prefaced, reaching out for Marceline's hand to skim over her knuckles. Marceline swallowed, nodded, squeezed her hand in return.

"It won't stop me from thinking about kissing you, though."

"And me you," Bonnibel teased before sighing heavily. "My dad owned the mill before you bought it from him." She paused so that Marceline could ogle at her. How very kind. "Yes, it's been closed down ever since and _yes_ there's good reason for it."

Marceline spluttered. "Good reason? What sort of good reason is there? I may not be an expert on the lumber business but there's plenty of trees around the mill, creampuff, your dad could be making bank."

Another heavy sigh. Oh, goody, Marceline was in for a treat. "Listen, a long time ago, when my dad was a tiny seven year old and his mum was a teenager who made mistakes and got pregnant young, the mill was up and running. This town literally got its _name_ from its good lumber trade." She paused to lick her lips. Marceline cursed herself for thinking about how they'd taste. "However, there was a string of grisly murders in the seventies, got tracked down to the guy who ran it and he was taken to jail for questioning. No matter how hard they searched they couldn't find some of the bodies limbs and eventually they gave up searching; the guy hung himself in jail and there were no known accomplices. Fast forward to my dad, then our age, in highschool and listening to the radio. The mill had reopened, the town was prospering again only… the limbs were later found mangled in some of the machinery." Marceline made a face of disgust, but Bonnibel continued all the same, staring at her milkshake as if it was more compelling than the story that she was telling. "The mill reopened again, when my dad was older, becoming a businessman and learning the ins and outs of trade and sales. Already there were rumours about the mill being haunted, which meant Oakdale wasn't doing as great usual. So my dad watched it, watched its sales go down, watched who it traded with, out of interest and curiosity because this mill was like the towns main attraction and it was riddled with murder charges. Soon enough there was another case for the detectives to follow, another few dead bodies turning up out of nowhere, all of them _workers_ at the mill. They questioned the person who ran it because hey, it happened twenty years ago, it could happen again right? _He_ was later found dead in the lumber yard, sawn in half by one of the circular saws. The government shut the place down, the case went cold, and… my dad bought it in hopes of stopping whatever _fucked_ up shit happens there." Bonnibel sighed, shrugging and finally looking away from her drink. "A _lot_ of people think the place is haunted, or cursed, or whatever. I just think that if you have a place full of sharp objects and hire anyone who walks through the door, you're bound for bad things to happen. Your dad knows what happened there, it's… watered down, sure, but it's in the files and all eleven of the murders were recorded. I just hope he knows to be careful with it,"

Marceline's mouth worked to form the correct sentence. "So you're saying…?"

"That the hostage situation might've been an attempt to recreate those murders. Yes, that's what I'm saying. And _Ash_ was tipped off about it." Her girlfriend took a sip. "It's just something to think about."

"Ash who owns a gun and pills and needles that could probably sedate a half dozen people. Ash who had _these_ in his bedside cabinet," And she pulled out the pictures of the map and the pieces of paper from his room on her phone. "Ash who frequents the mill with his athletic friend Brad, who could've helped him and I saw them in a room today with Braco and Ellen-,"

" _Marceline_ ," Bonnibel cut her off. "This is why I told you. Stop getting involved in this kind of stuff. Oakdale has its dark secrets and history, and Ash is seedy and dangerous but you're too nosy, honey. You're gonna get yourself hurt." Marceline was about to protest, but Bonnibel was standing up and had rounded the corner to kiss her cheek. "I'll see you at home, yeah?"

It was the last lesson of the day, Marceline was already ten minutes late because her girlfriend was suddenly having a rebellious phase two weeks before their exam period. _She couldn't have offered to ditch with me when I wanted to make out with her last week? Damn. I'm starting to sound like I hate ditching._ Marceline stopped to just think about how much Bonnibel and their friends had influenced her in such a small time frame.

 _Keila was right. I'm soft around people I like. Couldn't I have just… figured out I was bi sooner? Not kissed my best friend? Moved to Oakdale to witness straight Bonnibel and make her realise that I'm her soulmate? That I'm the one she's going to marry one day and be all cute and domestic? Marshall fucking called me a marshmallow when he found out I wanted to actually get married one day and I didn't even realise he was right. God what am I going to do-_

A hand clamped down on her shoulder, bringing her out of her inner monologue. She was spun round, back pressed against the lockers behind her. Her hands instinctively tightened around the straps of her bag.

Ash - Of course it was Ash, who else would it be other than Ash fucking Mercer - ducked his head to block her view of anything else, steely grey eyes narrowing and _judging_ her. Marceline felt like every kid she'd ever bullied. Felt very sorry and guilty. _What is this? My ted talk episode?_

"So you own the mill now, huh? You really think that'll stop the parties and drugs that we supply?" He breathed next to her ear, hands coming up to block her from running. Marceline swallowed, thinking about the fact that he'd pulled a gun on Braco a few hours beforehand. "I didn't think you had the balls, Abadeer. But you really walked into my trap."

"Go fuck yourself, asshole. Speak like a normal person, for once; I did what you wanted. You can have more parties there, so what? That's _not_ why I bought it."

Confusion drifted into Ash's features, hands dropping to his sides. "Oh, yeah. I knew that." Marceline snorted. "So why'd you buy if it wasn't to fuck me and Bradley over?"

"Okay, first of all, you're the first person I've heard call him _Bradley_ which is cute in its own creepy way. And secondly… my dad was going to do it anyway. He's trying to fuck over Bonnie's family. Key word trying. I made him do it sooner, buy the school _and_ the mill under my name."

Ash blinked, eyes flashing with anger for a split second. "So… you're screwing over Elle?"

"Screwing over my _dad_." She corrected, grateful when Ash took two steps back and visibly relaxed in front of her. _This is the first proper conversation we've had_. "I'm planning on giving the mill back to Bonnie's family after daddy dearest gives me the details I want from this hell hole."

Ash slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans, twisting his mouth as if he was thinking of what to say in he just shrugged his shoulders and span on his heel. "You're in deep, Abadeer." She swore he'd said something else under his breath, but she watched and waited as he rounded the corner before she went into lesson, ignoring the teachers 'And where have you been?' as she slid into her seat near the window.

She kind of forgot that she had history with Phoebe until she felt a soft kick to the back of her chair.

"Hey, are you planning on failing or something? Where've you been?" The redhead whispered, surprisingly good at feigning fake interest as she doodled in the margins of her notepad.

Marceline hunched her shoulders, glancing back at her friend in a half-assed shrug. "Long overdue talk with my girlfriend, had a milkshake, Ash and I are still kind of being civil. The usual." She was about to just carry on with lesson before she heard words fall from her mouth. "What about you? How's your day gone?"

"Mm, Finn asked me to prom officially. I said yes. I'm one hundred percent it's going to be a masquerade, by the way; Ellen's orders were mystery, sex appeal and an excuse to wear her frankly kinky bdsm mask." There was a pause, and then Phoebe continued in a quieter tone. "Your dad actually did us prom kids a solid; the new place is way bigger and Ellen has shut up about how Brad won't return her texts in turn of 'oh phoebe how can Abadeer be so annoying yet so perfect?'" Phoebe huffed, pencil stilling in her hand. Marceline resisted the urge to snort over the fact that _Ellen_ had a bdsm mask.

"Perfect, huh? Could've used that word a few years ago."

* * *

 **? (4:26):** _Hey, buddy, you don't wanna try that again. I don't have remorse like you do and I'm fed up of you lot pushing me around. Tell your boyfriend to come get his bitch on a leash before she dies of fright._

 **Ash (4:59):** _'Buddy'? Listen, You're Not Cool. Don't think that just because you've got a knife and you stayed at my place after what happened, that you're suddenly going to be somebody._

 **? (5:02):** _Whoops, should've told Brad to come to me x_


End file.
